By aimee Chanthadavong
eBay Australia has forecast the biggest mobile shopping day will be Sunday 8 December with expectations 1.28 million of 2.3 million Australians will visit eBay.com.au through their mobile device — 30 per cent more than the busiest online shopping day in 2012, 9 December.
eBay Australia buyer experience director Nicolette Maury said Australians are feeling optimistic in the lead up to the end of the year.
“Low interest rates has seen consumer confidence rise to its highest levels this year which means Australians are feeling good about gifting in the lead up to Christmas,” she said.
“In 2012, Australians who shopped online via a connected device were the minority but this Christmas more Australians will visit eBay.com.au via a mobile device than their fellow desktop shoppers.”
“Australians are leaders when it comes to mobile adoption, and with consumer sentiment at its current levels it comes as no surprise that over a million Australians will shop on eBay via a mobile device on this day.”
One retailer hoping to reap the benefits of this day is toy store Toys Paradise, which joined eBay last year after operating its own website for two years. Since then the company has seen a 20 to 50 per cent sales bump, including 30 per cent of that online traffic being generated through mobile devices.
“We went with eBay initially because we were looking for other channel of sales,” said Toys Paradise founder Miles Farago.
“We already have our own channels whether it’s our database or through advertising but there seems to be areas of the public we couldn’t get to and so we found eBay as a way to generate sales that wouldn’t encroach on our own website sales.”
eBay also predicts that on Sunday 8 December, a piece of women’s clothing will sell every 8 seconds and a piece of fashion jewellery will sell every 20 seconds via a mobile device. A record 140,000 items are forecast to be sold and $5 million worth of goods will be traded via a mobile on this day – 40 per cent more than in 2012.
“It’s become really clear this year that Australia is a nation of multi-taskers, using connected devices to multi-screen from the couch or to search for Christmas gifts on the way in to work,” Maury said.
“And it’s not just stocking fillers or last minute gifts that shoppers are heading online for this Sunday. 1,800 fitness items and 1,600 pieces of furniture will be purchased via a mobile device which means that consumers don’t think twice about purchasing large ticket items online anymore.”