Electronic commerce giant eBay is launching a new pop-up store in the UK. The store, dubbed eBay’s Christmas Boutique, will have no cash registers as everything in the store can be bought by scanning the QR code connected to the item. More than 350 products will be on display for the five days that the store is open. Located at 34/35 Dean Street in London, eBay hopes to attract tech-savvy holiday shoppers that want to avoid the bustle of conventional stores.
Two different types of QR codes are in use at the Christmas Boutique. One is embedded with a long web address that resolves to the manufacturer’s website, where customers can purchase the product directly from the source. The other codes link scanners to the item’s listing on eBay. Consumers will be able to purchase items regardless of where the codes take them. The campaign is part of eBay’s overarching experiment regarding the value and efficiency of QR codes.
Pop-up stores have been growing more popular with stores that primarily do business over the Internet. These stores allow businesses to take advantage of the rampant popularity of QR codes and mobile commerce in general. Retailers like the UK’s Tesco have used the codes to some extent in the past and have found a fair amount of success. eBay expects to continue with their QR code initiative well after the holiday season has come to an end.
