EBay just bought the hottest e-commerce app in the App Store.
RedLaser, which lets users scan product barcodes with their iPhone camera and then compare prices online, has been downloaded more than 2m times.
With eBay’s acquisition for an undisclosed price, it will be folded into eBay’s robust mobile portfolio and become free (it was $1.99). RedLaser technology will be incorporated into eBay’s existing shopping apps, and eBay listings will show up in RedLaser results.
EBay’s aggressive mobile strategy has become one of the most exciting stories coming out of the company. Its eBay app rang up sales of more than $500m last year and is on pace to do triple that across all its mobile apps in 2010.
Special holiday apps were a hit, and chief executive John Donahoe has called eBay’s iPad app the “best experience” his company offers. EBay’s PayPal unit has embraced mobile too, rolling out a successful app that lets users send money, and launching a platform that is spawning all sorts of useful apps. EBay companies Shopping.com and StubHub have popular apps, too.
With RedLaser in its toolkit, eBay looks poised to continue pushing the envelope when it comes to mobile commerce, quite a feat for an online auctions company many had written off as a has-been.
