You don’t need a commerce expert to tell you how quickly the retail market is evolving and how technology is driving the future of shopping. The evidence is all around us. Consumers can buy what they want anytime, anywhere and, thanks to the ubiquity of mobile, consumer expectations about how they engage with physical retail environments have changed as well. Shopping is now a highly customized experience. Want to order from a food truck and pay by swiping a credit card and “signing” with your finger? Done. Forgot your iPad charger and need one delivered to your office desk in an hour? No problem. As technology and commerce converge, we will continue to shape the future for a truly personalized shopping experience.
This ability for consumers to shop not only online and offline, but also locally and globally, is why eBay Inc. is particularly excited about its latest shopping innovation. With our partners at Kate Spade Saturday, we are launching four 24-hour Window Shops in Manhattan. Each interactive storefront allows shoppers to select and order merchandise from Kate Spade Saturday, Kate Spade’s new weekender line, on a touchscreen, schedule a free one-hour delivery to anywhere in the city, and pay with PayPal Here upon delivery. Our partnership brings the best of online shopping into the physical world, and rolls mobile technology, same-day delivery, and seamless digital payments into one end-to-end customer experience.
eBay’s “shoppable window” extends the boundary of the store, said Steve Yankovich, head of the company’s Innovation and New Ventures group, which developed the technology. ”Suddenly the physical store, by virtue of online technology, extends to any space that’s interesting to use,” Yankovich told Reuters.
These interactive storefronts — which have been beta-testing in our San Jose offices for the last few months — will be open to New Yorkers through July 6 throughout Manhattan. Though this is only a month-long experiment, both Kate Spade parent company Fifth & Pacific Inc. and eBay Inc. are excited about the prospect of revolutionizing shopping. With about 40% of all retail spending in the U.S. now involving some kind of online engagement, interactive glass technology allows retailers to think about cubic versus square feet for their retail shops.
eBay Inc. is proud to be at the forefront of exploring new innovations that help drive the future of shopping. One can’t be an innovation leader without taking risks. Companies need to push the boundaries of digital technology in order to fuel more connected commerce. In the future, we see commerce as both local and global, online and offline, where big and small players can succeed with each other, not in spite of each other. Only then can we all share in more opportunity together.