EBay targets mobile shoppers with AR ‘Santa Sneaker Drop’ sweepstakes

Dive Brief:

• EBay this week is hosting a mobile augmented reality (AR) sweepstakes called “Santa Sneaker Drop” that gives people a chance to win coveted pairs of shoes. The online marketplace partnered with NBA star Anthony Davis to promote the web-based game and give away 500 pairs of collectible sneakers, according to an announcement.
• EBay is asking people to visit its eBaysantasneakerdrop.com website in a mobile browser to activate the AR experience. After entering their email address at the site, users will see a virtual fireplace in their smartphone camera view. An unwrapped gift with the eBay logo drops down the chimney and pops open to reveal a prize or a consolation message.
• To engage sneakerheads with a gamified AR experience during the holidays, Ebay is giving away 19 styles of collectible sneakers, including the Air Jordan 1 Travis Scott, the Nike Air Max 97 Sean Wotherspoon and the Jordan 1 Off-White Chicago. Mobile users can enter the sweepstakes, which began on Dec. 22 and runs through Dec. 24, up to five times a day.

Dive Insight:

EBay’s “Santa Sneaker Drop” aims to engage sneakerheads with a gamified AR experience during the climactic holiday shopping crush. The sweepstakes can help to remind consumers that eBay was a pioneer in the market for secondhand sneakers as it seeks to take on GOAT Group and StockX in the market for authenticated shoes. As evidence of the market’s rapid expansion, StockX this month raised $275 million in a financing round that valued the startup at $2.8 billion, while GOAT in September raised $100 million at a $1.75 billion valuation, Front Office Sports reported. StockX already has expanded into other product categories like electronics, making it a more direct competitor to eBay.

EBay has seen strong revenue growth amid a broader boom in e-commerce during the pandemic, with homebound shoppers seeking products like secondhand sneakers that aren’t available in stores. The company’s revenue jumped 25% to $2.61 billion in the third quarter from a year earlier, while its profit nearly tripled to $621 million, per a quarterly report. CEO Jamie Iannone said the company had seen strong growth in the market for vintage watches and sneakers, Barron’s reported.

With its “Santa Sneaker Drop,” eBay also becomes the latest company to harness AR technology to engage consumers with a branded experience. Gucci Beauty this month started an AR promotion for its Bloom perfume that lets Snapchat users step into a virtual “garden of dreams.” The gamified experience invited people to find virtual bottles of the perfume and visit luxury brand’s website to make a direct purchase. Advertisers including Diageo, Dior, GameStop, HBO, L’Oréal and Verizon also have used AR technology in their recent campaigns to engage homebound consumers on mobile.