 "eBay starts rolling out Pinterest-like homepage")
Don’t look now, eBay is changing! The popular international Internet store has been looking to rehash its stagnating image since the later half of last year. With a spanking new logo amongst other user interface changes, eBay is now going the Pinterest way, with an image centric, personalised experience starting today.
The new look debuted back in October last year, almost around the same time that eBay unveiled its redesigned logo but was available only to less than 10 percent of users during the test phase. The company thinks it’s finally time to release the refreshed eBay homepage to all its users. This new look is available only to customers in the US as of now, though, and looking at the way eBay is playing safe with the testing, it could be a while between the new eBay homepage will hit the rest of the world.
Pinterest+Shopping=eBay’s new look
This new look came about with eBay realising that customers needed that personal experience when they go about shopping on the site. The new homepage for eBay will now be tailored to the users’ interest – right on the homepage. The collections displayed on the page will be pulled from eBay’s selection of over a whopping 400 million listings to create a “visual shopping experience that’s just for you”. The data will also update in real time, adding product listings and changes to your page as and when they occur.
According to eBay President Devin Wenig, the personalisation will be a two-way street. “T_he more interests you add, the more your homepage reflects you. This personalized experience blends the technology of search with the inspiration of browsing – so you can discover new items each time you visit,_” he wrote in a post introducing the new page. He added that each item displayed was instantly shop-able, helping you connect with things that you liked.
Essentially, the new eBay page is a catalogue of Pinterest pins that you can purchase. Imagine you’re going through interesting images on Pinterest of fashionable outfits and want to purchase it. That’s exactly where eBay found a spot to set up its new look site – to connect users to the power of purchasing their favourites.
Pinterest too has purchasable pins up on its site, but they form a tiny portion of them. Most of these pins are redirected to Etsy, an e-commerce website that lays emphasis on handmade products.
eBay has no qualms about showing off where exactly it got the idea for the site redesign. The tagline for new eBay is “Let the inspiration begin”. Very sneakily similar to Pinterest’s “inspirational” section, eBay’s homepage even features the cascading image rich boxes quite like the former’s site.
Tom Pinckney, head of the eBay NYC office and one of the co-founders of personalisation startup Hunch, said to TechCrunch “We are introducing a different type of shopping and inventing a new way to shop with product discovery,” he explains. “We have a huge map of date around discovery and serendipity and are trying to find ways to take this data and tap into collective intelligence.”
Now if only eBay would roll out this feature for shopaholics around the world soon!
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
