Just two days after announcing a new application for Windows Phone 7, internet auction site eBay has admitted it’s important to have a mobile strategy that includes mobile sites and apps.
Monday’s announcement focussed on the benefits available from Microsoft’s new mobile OS, noting that the WP7 app uses Microsoft’s panoramic user interface and push notification technology. The free app will be available in eight countries, including the UK.
Today eBay is launching a new mobile web site created by mobile web publisher (and long-term eBay partner) Netbiscuits, which has offices in the USA, Germany, UK and Singapore. It’s currently only available for iPhone users in the USA, with an Android version to follow soon and a global roll-out to additional platforms due next year.
Han-Shen Yuan, eBay’s Director of Platform Business Solutions and Mobile Engineering, said “The new mobile site is a major advancement in feature set and user experience for all of our smart phone using customers. When discussing traffic numbers on a device basis, I think it’s important to note that we’ve actively diverted millions of users from our mobile website m.ebay.com to our iPhone, Android and BlackBerry apps. However, despite us proactively diverting traffic, mobile web revenue growth is increasing at the same pace as our mobile app business. Therefore, it is important to have a mobile strategy that includes both mobile sites and apps.”