eBay opens new store for window shopping in New York

Online retailer eBay is taking window shopping to another level with a new storefront that opened Thursday night in Manhattan.

The new store, on Park Avenue and 28th Street, is meant to blur the lines between online shopping and the traditional brick-and-mortar store shopping experience.

There is actually nothing in the store — it’s all windows and no sales desk. But, on the corners of each of the three window displays, there are three QR codes — for motors, fashion and electronics — that can be scanned by smart phones. The codes bring up a mobile eBay website so that window shoppers can purchase what they see on the spot on their cell phones.

The website enlisted the help of designer Jonathan Adler and other celebrities — such as fashion designer Betsey Johnson and actress Molly Sims — to decide what should go in the windows. Adler and Sims both attended the opening event.

But the storefront is only temporary. It’s a marketing ploy for now. In three weeks, it will be gone.

Amanda Miller, a spokeswoman for eBay, said the company will be exporting the idea to other cities at this time.

Miller talks about how the storefront is part of a larger consumer ad campaign.

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Miller talks about how eBay’s sales are moving toward instant purchases and away from auctions.
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Miller talks about the “blurring of online and offline commerce.”

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Ebay Ambi by tristanhallman