eBay Inc. Launches World’s First Open Commerce Ecosystem

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At its Innovate Developer Conference 2011, eBay Inc. unveiled X.commerce, an open commerce ecosystem focused on arming developers and merchants with the technology tools needed to define the future of commerce.

“This creates a tremendous global opportunity for developers and merchants alike. With X.commerce we’ve created an open ecosystem that is the most complete set of commerce capabilities on the planet. Through X.commerce, developers will be the driving force behind the next wave of retail innovation.”

“We expect technology to change commerce more in the next three years than in the past 15,” said John Donahoe, President and CEO, eBay Inc. “This creates a tremendous global opportunity for developers and merchants alike. With X.commerce we’ve created an open ecosystem that is the most complete set of commerce capabilities on the planet. Through X.commerce, developers will be the driving force behind the next wave of retail innovation.”

X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal, Magento and partners, to further expand on eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. X.commerce gives developers and merchants all the technologies necessary for commerce in an open and accessible format — from shopping carts, to payment services, inventory management, marketplace integrations, tax management and beyond.

A Changing Retail Environment

The way consumers shop is fundamentally changing due to innovations in mobile, social, local and digital experiences. Merchants are increasingly challenged to keep pace with consumer expectations in this new retail environment. Internet and mobile technologies influence offline purchases, from barcode scanning to mobile commerce.

The X.commerce ecosystem delivers a complete set of commerce capabilities, helping merchants deliver new customer experiences.

The retail market is expected to reach $10 trillion globally by 2013.¹ As a whole, the majority of commerce is conducted offline, but the line between offline and online commerce is quickly blurring.

Benefits for Developers

X.commerce gives developers the tools to create entirely new shopping solutions. The X.commerce ecosystem contains the world’s first open commerce operating system, X.commerce Fabric. Via the X.commerce Fabric, developers can distribute their innovations directly to the hundreds of thousands of merchants currently in the Magento, eBay and PayPal merchant portfolio.

Benefits for Merchants

X.commerce offers the ability to quickly implement new technologies that create better experiences for customers. Merchants can deploy and integrate tools ranging from demand generation to merchandising, transactions (payments, identity, fulfillment), business management (analytics, customer service) and more. The open environment provides merchants the freedom to implement, customize and scale technologies at the pace most appropriate for their businesses.

Benefits for Solution Providers and Partners

X.commerce represents a new distribution channel, and the open environment allows for the newest technologies to be plugged in as needed – including those outside the eBay portfolio.

Follow X.commerce on Twitter: #Innovate2011, @X_commerce. For additional information visit www.x.com.

Support for X.commerce

“Consumers no longer shop in one location or visit only brick and mortar stores. Consumers interact in numerous settings, both real and virtual…the old boundaries no longer exist,” said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst, The NPD Group, Inc. “Consumers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated in their use of technology to help them get more bang for their buck. While these changes might be daunting for some, the businesses that are able to embrace these innovations and find fast, flexible and creative solutions will have the competitive advantage.”

“Retail used to be all about location —today, it’s all about innovation,” said Matthew Mengerink, Vice President and General Manager, X.commerce. “Merchants can see the world changing around them as consumers are adopting new technologies that change how they shop. With X.commerce we’re allowing developers to focus on innovation, so merchants can focus on selling.”

Pricing and Availability

X.commerce is available today. Basic use is free to registered users. Developers can download the X.commerce developer package at www.x.com.

Tags/Keywords:

eBay, eBay Inc., X.Commerce, John Donahoe, Matthew Mengerink, NPD Group

About X.commerce

X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. Through our ecosystem of developers, partners and tools, merchants now have access to open commerce technology to scale and grow their businesses.

About eBay Inc.

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about enabling commerce. We do so through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento, an ecommerce platform, to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

¹ Economist Intelligence Unit