Ebay’s first “clicks & mortar” store has opened at 3 West 57th Street on 5th Avenue. Its a temporary pop-up retail store only open till 29th November. The store is broken into six “personalities” – Stylista, Fashionista, Techie, Urbanite, Gamer & Youngster and shoppers have the opportunity to view 400 featured products from the thousands of items available from Ebay. They can then purchase those items via touchscreen terminals or bid on other auction items after getting advice on gift options from the personal shoppers or eBay’s “trend & culture experts”. There are also on-of-a-kind items on display such as Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein’s sneakers from the DJ AM MEMORIAL FUND limited-edition charity sneaker auction (www.ebay.com/djamshoes).
On Black Friday, a limited quantity of in-demand Daily Deal items will be awarded to the first 100 shoppers who visit the store.
The eBay Holiday Store is open to the public from 10:00 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. from November 20 – 29, 2009 (closed on Thanksgiving Day; doors open at 11:00 a.m. on Sundays and at 7:00 a.m. on Black Friday, November 27). For more information, visit www.ebayholiday.com.
The 5th Avenue store isn’t Ebay’s only Christmas venture though – they also have “mobile boutiques” which are visiting 11 cities. These showcase holiday gifts from eBay, run promotions such as giving away eBay gift vouchers & allow you to “buy it now” via internet kiosks, phone apps & tablets.
In addition to the boutique stores, eBay launched its own shopping web site, Fashion Vault, after noticing the popularity of sample sale sites like Gilt.com and Ruelala.com. However, unlike the other invitation-only sample sales communities, Fashion Vault is open to all eBay members and offers free US shipping. Sales events last for two to three days only, and quantities are limited.
