Online auction website eBay is to open a physical store in London for a limited spell over the Christmas period, it has been announced.
The eBay Christmas Boutique will open for five days starting on December 1, in what eBay anticipates will be the busiest spell of the Christmas shopping period.
There will be only a limited selection of items, with customers able to choose from 200 best-selling products each with a unique QR code. Shoppers will then be able to scan the code with a smartphone and complete the purchase by visiting the eBay payment site.
“eBay predicts another record breaking ‘Super Sunday’ [on December 4] as 5.8 million shoppers are expected to log on to eBay.co.uk to shop,” the firm said in a statement. “Sales are forecast to peak at over 30 gifts every second, nearly double the 16 gifts per second bought last year via online and mobile platforms.”
Major players in the retail market have also demonstrated an increased interest in cross-channel shopping over the last few months, with Tesco and Ocado among those which have experimented with QR code technology.
