eBay has taken several initiatives to make its service more widespread, attractive and simpler. There are some tailwinds to its key businesses as global e-commerce volume continues to expand and mobile payments grow. As a result, the company has set aggressive targets for the next 2-3 years. eBay expects earnings growth of 15% to 18% over the next three years (including 2013) with revenues expected to jump by almost 70% during the same period. The current trends indicate that this may be achievable. PayPal is performing strongly and the marketplaces business is gaining momentum. Here are some ways the company …

When it comes to mobile shopping, tablet users spend more money on average than smartphone mobile shoppers, according to data culled by comScore. The spend per purchase is $57 per tablet owner and $47 per smartphone user, meaning that tablets create 20 percent more in average spending per purchase. The importance of tablet spending isn't diminished by the mobile commerce dollars coming from smartphones, which enjoy higher market saturation than tablets. According to the comScore data, in the first half of 2013, smartphone sales accounted for $6.7 billion of the $10.6 billion spent in the mobile commerce industry. While that …

The average ticket of purchases made from mobile devices from Latin American e-commerce firm MercadoLibre's (Nasdaq: MELI) platform in Brazil is 32% higher than the average ticket of those made from PCs, according to a new study from the website. Also, transactions via mobile apps already represent 5% of MercadoLibre's total sales in the country, whereas in the overall Brazilian e-commerce segment that rate is reportedly 3.6% of total transactions. For those who access MercadoLibre's website via mobile phones, but without using apps, the average ticket is also 20% higher than access from PCs. According to MercadoLibre, some 10% of …

Think you have time to idle over your mobile commerce launch? Not so. Seventy-one percent of companies see m-commerce as very or extremely important to the future of their organizations, according to nearly 900 qualified respondents to our InformationWeek and Mobile Commerce World survey. Companies such as MGM Resorts International see mobile as a new way to drive revenue. In a press event during the recent Interop show in Las Vegas, MGM chief digital officer John Bollen didn't showcase a big data or security initiative.

Outdoor clothing and gear retailer Clear Water Outdoor, based in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, began studying mobile visits to its e-commerce site in 2012, when the traffic was still in the single digits. By the end of the year that percentage reached double digits and was growing fast, but the number of mobile visitors who actually decided to complete a transaction was far lower -- mainly because the store hadn't really thought about mobile device screens when designing and creating its content. "Since 2009 to now, over half the traffic has become mobile, but almost nobody was purchasing this way," said …

Mobile phones are increasingly being used as a shopping platform, with smartphones proving particular popular for this activity. Mobiles phones are becoming an increasingly popular shopping platform for consumers, with smartphone usage particularly geared towards commerce, a new survey has suggested. The Smartphone Intelligence study by Compete revealed that 37 per cent of smartphone owners - like Apple's iPod and the BlackBerry - have bought something with their handset over the past six months. A fifth of smartphone owners have purchased music by using their handset, 12 per cent have bought cinema tickets and 14 per cent have bought DVDs, …

Brands such as J. Crew and Kwiat are enabling consumers to shop wedding looks as part of a new iPhone application update from search and commerce engine Lover.ly. Lover.ly is a wedding and shopping engine that lets brides and grooms search for inspiration and shop for their big days by pulling in products from more than 2,000 brands. The app revamp is the result of more mobile traffic and commerce coming since launching 18 months ago.

E-commerce may have taken its own sweet time to win over retailers and consumers in the region, but that is unlikely to come in the way of the region emerging a fast-track adopter of mobile commerce. Portal operators are doing test runs that would allow transactions to be done from a smartphone or tablet, which they believe will become the choice interfaces for the region's tech-savvy shoppers. Tejuri.com, the Dubai Government promoted entity that offers e-space on behalf of retailers, looks to offer such a window within the next four to six months. That is quick on the draw given …

Expedia is promoting mobile booking via its travel application with a television ad campaign and sweepstakes giving anyone who downloads the app a chance to win a free trip. The Expedia "Find Your Spontaneity" TV campaign showcases the Expedia mobile app and how easy it is to book a trip on the spur of the moment as well as the Trip A Day Giveaway sweepstakes. The Expedia app enables users to book flights and hotels, view itineraries in real-time and save up to 40 percent on mobile exclusive offers.

The UAE-based operator Etisalat plans to offer its own mobile money service, Flous (money in Arabic) in all 15 of its markets. Flous enables customers to pay credit card bills, pay for parking or tickets and buy other services from the operator. It works across a range of connected devices and not just telephones. Most recently the company launched Flous in the west African nation of Togo, working alongside local banks and MasterCard. It is already available in Egypt.