eBay search makes it easy to find what you want. But when you’re trying to find a unique gift for someone else, it’s hard to know what to search for.

Because of this, 66% of Australians still prefer to shop for Christmas presents in stores. Which means at Christmas time, eBay’s sales decline.

Our goal was to get more Australians, both existing and non-existing eBay users, turning to eBay in search of the prefect present.

Our solution was to do something eBay had never done before – modify their search algorithm to cross-reference two search terms at a time, using interests and hobbies.

So, if you knew two things someone liked, eBay could find a gift they’d love in a fun and easy way. Something no other store could offer.

eBay live and breath online shopping innovation, by altering their search algorithm we made them the easiest place to find the perfect Christmas present. Which made the news.

Our integrated campaign launched with outdoor, television, PR, digital banners, online content, a website and a Facebook APP, all educating Australians on the easiest way to find the perfect gift. All with a direct call to action to shop on eBay for Xmas.

The eBay Gift Engine Facebook APP searched friend’s and family’s Facebook likes to find gift ideas – a world first that continued the innovation and added a bit of fun to the present buying process.

We then tested the modified algorithm on Jeni Bonnel, the mother of Australia’s largest family. Turning a hard job into an easy one.

This one simple alteration to eBay’s search made a massive difference.

•In the first week of December eBay exceeded 1M average weekly buyers for the first time ever. In total there were 3.34M registered visitors that week.

•During the campaign eBay saw their biggest shopping day in history (number of items bought), and was 25% bigger than last year’s biggest day (factors for all purchases across all platforms). And 47% bigger than last year’s biggest day on mobile.

•Traffic to deals.ebay.com.au, eBay’s Sunday sale component, increased by up to 453%.

•PR generated over $6M in earned media.

Making it a fantastic Christmas for eBay and millions of Australians.