The leading barcode-scanning iPhone application Red laser can be acquired by E Bay Inc (WBAY). This red laser is used for comparison shopping and product information by mobile-device users.
This e-commerce group from San Jose California said it has plans to integrate the Red Laser’s barcode –scanning technology into its iPhone applications which includes its eBay market place, eBay selling, Stub Hub and Shopping com apps. This can help the customers to find better deals online.
Colorado based startup Occipital developed this Red Laser technology. Occipital in one of its posts in the blog said that it would remain independent and eBay will have an entirely new team to run Red Laser. The terms and conditions of the deal were not disclosed.
Vice president of eBay Mr. Steve Yankovich said that customers can use this Red Laser to scan any bar-coded item at a shop and can discover whether the item can be bought at a lower price online or with more accessories.
Yankovich said that eBay has plans to add more than 200 million eBay listings in the catalog of Red Laser.
This acquisition is a move to make mobile e-commerce more popular as the number of users that have access to the internet through their smartphones grows. This is a small but high growth area in retail.
The numbers of shoppers shopping through their cell phones have increased amounting to $2.2 billion as compared to last years $1 billion.
Red Lasers technology can also be used by eBay sellers to create listings fast by accessing pricing trends and product details for millions of items from the catalogue.
AAPL iPhone will be the first to take advantage of this technology for mobile users to sell items online which is an eBay selling application.
Mobile e-commerce is the growing focus for eBay which said that the number of items bought on its site through mobile devices was high last year during the holiday season.
Mobile e-commerce has been a growing focus for eBay, which late last year said the number of items bought on its site through mobile devices surged during the holiday season.
