eBay's Big New Thing Meshes Pinterest, Day-Of Delivery

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eBay is attempting to nail two business models no retailer has successfully tackled yet at the same time: Achieve both local, immediate delivery and Pinterest-style shopping.

The first part of that equation is an expansion of their same-day delivery program, eBay Now. Launched in beta in New York and San Francisco, it will expand to more than 25 markets by 2014, starting with a Chicago launch today and Dallas by the end of 2013. The acquisition of Shutl, a London-based start-up that offers 90-minute delivery of goods in the city, is making that goal possible.

The retailer plans to roll out scheduled deliveries "soon," so shoppers can decide when they'd like their packages to arrive. And finally, right now the e-tail emporium is allowing buyers to pickup products from Toys "R" Us and Best Buy, with more brick-and-mortars to come.

As for the Pinterest-washing of the online marketplace, eBay today debuted "collections," which are the equivalent of boards. Basically an internet baby between Pinterest and Etsy, collect-ability and organization meet a shoppable feature meet customizable branded online storefronts—all connected to eBay listings, natch.

To show that they're serious, eBay tapped a large swath of tastemakers, famous in their respective spheres from cars to weddings to music to fashion, to curate collections. Chris Benz for example, created a "Palm Springs Pop" based around his latest vacation. It includes retro glasses for beach drinks and mid-century yellow chairs. Users can buy or bid on these items rightthissecond or simply follow the board or Chris. "Outside of being able share and everything, it's a really amazing to organize and categorize things that you want," he told Racked. "Before, I just kept it all as one big list."

Pharrel Williams is also on board (his collection does not include plaid but does include a Chanel basketball). Speaking at the debut this morning, he made sure everyone caught his catchphrase, "it's the cure to FOMO," and explained "there's power in numbers," referring to eBay's massive inventory and millions of unique visitors every day. Plus, he said, it's "so so so fun."
· The 38 Essential Online Shops, Summer 2013 Edition [Racked]