eBay exploded onto Australia’s shores in 1999 as innovative retail pioneers, now boasting 8 million unique monthly users.

However, by 2016, with the emergence of new online retail competitors, Australians still perceived eBay as an outdated, second-hand auction house despite 85% of eBay’s actual inventory being brand new products.

Objectives:

1. Reposition eBay as a thought leader and innovator in retail, and create fame without paid media, generating earned coverage beyond $10,000,000.

2. Increase specific scores, measured through YOY brand tracking, including.

• 10% increase in ‘likelihood of shopping at eBay’

• 10% increase in ‘consideration of eBay’

• 10% increase in ‘premium eBay retail partners’

Endless challenges presented themselves along the way. No true retail VR experience existed, meaning the UX, navigation, physics systems and underlying logic was developed from scratch.

We first developed a custom physics engine and VR navigation system called ‘Sight Search’, allowing users to browse, sort and purchase over 12,500 products using their eyes. Complex relationship algorithms allowed users to spawn related items by looking at products. To guide users to relevant products, we selected Myer’s top products and modelled them in full 3D and increased their weighting within the experience. We then integrated directly into the eBay platform APIs, pulling in real-time data including price, inventory levels and product data, making it another true retail channel. Machine learning was integrated to learn about the user, algorithmically serving relevant products as they browsed. We implemented the ability for users to personalise their store by choosing category preferences.

The application was deployed across iOS, Android and the Oculus store with a launch event and 2 day consumer activation at the MCA in Sydney attended by media, influencers and the public. To seed the application we manufactured 20,000 pairs of cardboard VR viewers called ‘shopticals’ and gave them away in an online promotion.