eBay to open up new UK retail store with QR code auctions, no tills included
If the whole purpose of retail was to sell in store, then we are not sure what the top boardroom dogs over at eBay are doing. Indeed, much like in the film ’40 Year Old Virgin’ where Steve Carell becomes interested in a girl who owns the first ever eBay store which fittingly doesn’t actually sell items off the shelf, eBay has decided that from the 1st of December until the 5th they are going to run a little experiment. Essentially, the experiment is that they will showcase 200 of their most widely sold products where customers will have to scan corresponding QR codes using their smartphones to purchase the products on the auction site, which doesn’t sound quite as enticing as a high end technology auction review.
Eager to also make the concept of this experiment hi-tech, the eBay retail store will also have Tablet PC’s which consumers can use to browse through an eBay catalogue, much like Argos but without the paper. The question is, though, why anybody would ever want to go to a store knowing full well they won’t walk away with a thing; I mean, doesn’t purchasing stuff from comfort of your own home sound better than the unnecessary visit to a store?
The experiment as stated is only set to last 5 days, but in this time I’m sure will attract many thouands of interested visitors. Overall, I personally think it’s a good PR ploy with the build up to Christmas.
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