eBay Advertising today announced the launch of a new product to help advertisers cash in on the couch commerce opportunity on ebay.co.uk, following a successful pilot campaign with The Co-operative Electrical.
The product – known as ‘eBay TV Targeting’ – is based on observed insights on eBay’s 19 million monthly unique users in the UK. It will use anonymous search data to identify and target when shoppers are likely to be “dual-screening” – shopping while watching TV – on ebay.co.uk.
The product launch comes as new insights from eBay Advertising reveal that dual screening is an increasingly common part of online and mobile shopping, and presents a lucrative opportunity for marketers to inspire consumer spend and gain share of wallet.
Searches for “crochet dress” on ebay.co.uk soared by 37% after Kim Murray was spotted wearing one during the final of the Wimbledon tennis championship in 2013. More recently, searches for “MGB” rose by 48% during the final of Top Gear last year (compared to the same time slot the week before) when the MGB GT was positioned by Richard Hammond as the ‘most iconic British sports car’ – indicating the size of the dual screening opportunity.
Phuong Nguyen, Director, eBay Advertising UK said, “Dual screening means big business for brands, and marketers shouldn’t underestimate the power of TV to inspire real-time purchases. Brands can’t advertise on the BBC but, in a way, on eBay now they can. This is a great example of technology-enabled creativity and once again shows that the marketers that act fast will be best placed to capitalize.”
The launch follows a successful trial by The Co-operative Electrical, who piloted the product during the Great British Bake Off final last year. Baking enthusiasts who were shopping during the time that the final aired were identified on ebay.co.uk and targeted with ads for kitchenware sold by Co-operative Electrical, which were tailored in real time to reflect what was happening on screen.
Campaign engagement in terms of click through rate increased by 67% for the hour during the show and by 133% for the hour immediately after the show. And this engagement was converted to purchases, with sales almost trebling (up 190%) for the duration of the five-day campaign compared to the weeks before and after the campaign.
Phuong Nguyen added, “Soaring mobile use has powered the rise of dual screening in recent years. In fact, over half of sales globally on ebay.co.uk involve a mobile touch point. With 90% of our users now logged in across all devices, the beauty of eBay is that we are able to follow shoppers throughout their purchase journey, regardless of the device they are using – enabling the greatest degree of relevancy in advertising campaigns.”
Charlie Manson, Head of Home Entertainment, The Co-operative Electrical said, “The Bake Off offers a huge, captive audience for our kitchenware category so it was a no-brainer for us to capitalise on last year’s final. We saw a 22% increase in clicks on The Co-operative Electrical’s eBay page in the hour after the show finished (9-10 pm) and a 40% increase in click through rate for ads targeting baking keywords during the same period. This definitely makes real-time targeting a top marketing priority for us in 2016.”
The product is available to marketers and agencies on request from today.