eBay's new shopping basket, which the company began testing in August, will officially debut on the U.K. site later this month and will soon make its way onto the U.S. site.
No set date has been mentioned for the feature's release on eBay U.K., but it will be live later this month, eBay U.K. notes in its General Announcements. According to news reports, the cart will make its way onto eBay U.S. in November, just in time for the holidays.
According to eBay, the shopping cart will make shopping "simpler" and "faster," as buyers will be able to buy from multiple merchants and pay in one transaction if they choose to, and if the sellers accept the same payment method.
Sebastien Dubuisson, the head of the shopping basket project on eBay U.K., says the idea for a shopping basket makes sense since it has become a "standard e-commerce practice."
He adds that merchants will not have to do anything to prepare for the new basket. However, there are some good practices that will help sellers get the most from the new shopping experience. These include offering postage discounts and listing multi-quantity items for longer durations to encourage bigger orders, and to give buyers who don't pay for items right away more time to make purchases.
When the basket rolls out, eBay users will notice an "Add to basket" button on the View Item page. When they use this button, items will be added to their carts, and a total price will be displayed for all the products in their baskets.
Once buyers are done shopping, they'll be able to buy and pay for everything in their baskets, or only select items, for example those from one particular seller, eBay reports. The can save the rest for a later purchase or add items to their Watch Lists.
eBay notes that adding an item to a cart does not commit a shopper to buying a product, and that other shoppers can purchase the same item if they have it in their baskets and pay for it first.
Overall, eBay says, the basket should be a good thing for sellers.
"This faster, easier way to shop can help [merchants] sell additional products with buyers placing bigger orders," the company says. "The shopping basket can also help reduce the number of unpaid items, as buyers have to check out and pay before they can buy a fixed price item."
Get more information about eBay's shopping basket.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
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