eBay to open physical outlet in West End
19 Nov 2011
Internet shopping, it seems, is now ready to spill over into the high street with eBay becoming the latest website to announce plans for a physical outlet in the UK.
The shop, the latest high-profile experiment in the West End of London, will have no tills, rather shoppers will pay by using their smartphones to scan a "quick response" code on the price tag.
The codes direct the browser on users' phones to the payment section of the eBay website.
The eBay shop will be open for just five days from 1 December, the busiest period for pre-Christmas online shopping.
The store will stock the ebay's 200 bestsellers ranging from House of Fraser party frocks to toys from The Entertainer, however purchases would be delivered to customers' homes.
According to a spokesman the store would promise ''no quest, no bags, no stress''.
With a similar store it set up in New York this year, eBay is seen to be increasingly cashing in on the popularity of smartphones, which are adding a new dimension to the shopping culture.