The US wing of e-commerce and auction site eBay is trialling a same day shipping service also in the pipeline for Australian customers.
A select amount of San Francisco users were invited this week to join the eBay Now shipping service in a Apple only pilot said to be a trial for a national roll-out.
Its partners include retailers like Macy’s, Toys’R’Us, Target, and Best Buy, however, eBay’s traditional auction-style sellers are not included in the trial.
A local eBay source has told Inside Retail the Australian team “is liaising with the team in the US to understand buyer feedback and results from the eBay Now pilot in SF”.
“We will work with them to evaluate potential to roll it to additional cities and markets,” they say.
The iOS app lets the city’s residents pay for US$5 same-day shipping on products from local stores, with it only working on purchases over US$25.
Yet testers of the beta version gives users US$15 off their first eBay Now order, as well as free shipping on their first three orders before the standard delivery fee kicks in.
The service is open to San Francisco residents every day of the week in business hours, with a store needing to be open for at least half an hour first.
Early user reports are indicating that deliveries are arriving in as little as an hour. It is not clear when eBay is planning to take the trial national if it proves successful.
A representative from eBay Australia told Inside Retail that the company currently has no plans to initiate similar trials to local consumers.