Following PayPal Divorce, eBay Abandons On-Demand ‘Now’ Delivery Service
One of the trends that's gaining steam in the online shopping space is same-day delivery service. By partnering with local stores and warehouses, web retailers can accept online orders and have the product shipped and delivered to the buyer on the same day, which partially takes away the instant gratification advantage that brick-and-mortar stores currently enjoy. However, eBay is going in a different direction, at least for now.
Following its breakup with PayPal. eBay announced the retirement of its eBay Now service in the U.S., which had been around for the past three years. It's not a totally unexpected move, as eBay showed signs that it was losing interest, like shutting down its eBay Now app a year ago. According to eBay, this was always the end game.
"While we saw encouraging results with the eBay Now service, we always intended it as a pilot, and we are now exploring delivery and pick-up/drop-off programs that are relevant to many more of our 25 million sellers, and that cover a wider variety of inventory that consumers tell us they want. We will continue to pilot scheduled delivery in the U.K.," eBay stated in a blog post.
There's a chance the service will return in some form. An eBay spokeswoman told CNET that the company figured out that same-day delivery made more sense on select items -- things like diapers, groceries, and other goods that customers need immediate access to. But for things like collectibles, it didn't work as well.
"We continue to explore a variety of delivery options such as buy-online-pickup-in-store," the spokeswoman said.
In addition to ending its eBay Now delivery service, eBay will also shutter some of its apps -- eBay Motors, eBay Fashion, and eBay Valet -- while integrating their functions into its core app. The goal is to make things easier and less confusing for customers.
Following its breakup with PayPal. eBay announced the retirement of its eBay Now service in the U.S., which had been around for the past three years. It's not a totally unexpected move, as eBay showed signs that it was losing interest, like shutting down its eBay Now app a year ago. According to eBay, this was always the end game.
"While we saw encouraging results with the eBay Now service, we always intended it as a pilot, and we are now exploring delivery and pick-up/drop-off programs that are relevant to many more of our 25 million sellers, and that cover a wider variety of inventory that consumers tell us they want. We will continue to pilot scheduled delivery in the U.K.," eBay stated in a blog post.
There's a chance the service will return in some form. An eBay spokeswoman told CNET that the company figured out that same-day delivery made more sense on select items -- things like diapers, groceries, and other goods that customers need immediate access to. But for things like collectibles, it didn't work as well.
"We continue to explore a variety of delivery options such as buy-online-pickup-in-store," the spokeswoman said.
In addition to ending its eBay Now delivery service, eBay will also shutter some of its apps -- eBay Motors, eBay Fashion, and eBay Valet -- while integrating their functions into its core app. The goal is to make things easier and less confusing for customers.
