eBay Rolls Out New Features And Design

Auction giant eBay has completed its new design which includes an interesting new logo, new customizations and a few new features. eBay introduced some the new features via a "Welcome To The New eBay" page which not only shows off some of the new design features but also offers up an explanation of what changes will be made and why the company has decided to make such dramatic wide sweeping changes.

"We're delivering a cleaner, contemporary look and feel; a more intuitive, convenient way to browse, decide and buy -- both globally and locally; and a new personal way to curate your own shopping experience and discover items perfect for you," eBay President Devin Wenig said.

According to the New eBay page the changes were made in hopes to simplify the site design to offer more streamlined navigation along with larger images and key product information, enabling customers to find what they want more quickly and easily. Alongside these changes is the additional of a new feature called eBay Feed. This new home page looks and acts a lot like a Pinterest page, creating windowed style view of images taken from your shopping favorites. This new feature is available for opt-in in the U.S. here.

In addition to the site redesign eBay launched a new app, eBay Now, for same-day delivery service. The service is currently only being tested in San Francisco but eBay promises more cities will follow. Shoppers can order items from a variety of retailers -- Finish Line, GNC, Home Depot, Macy's, Office Depot, RadioShack, Target, Toys R Us, and Walgreens -- and get them delivered to their door, usually within an hour.

My thoughts:

As a long time eBay user I have to say seeing some of these changes leaves me longing for the good old days. They call this simplified, yet I found the old eBay much easier to navigate and much easier on the eyes. I hope this new Pinterest style page with tiles is going to be opt-in only. Because I can't stand the cluttered design. eBay is also promising more integration with Pay-Pal. I'm not certain how much more integrated they can get! 

All I can really say is I hope they leave the options available to allow some of us more traditional users to customize our experience to a more minimalistic view. Something that leaves all this media-centric web 2.0 clutter behind.