This month has seen some big changes at eBay, with its spinoff of PayPal now complete, and it looks like the company's attempt at a fresh start will also affect some of its less successful apps and services.
In an announcement today, the company confirmed that it will be shutting down its eBay Now same-day delivery service, while some its standalone apps would be decommissioned, wtih some of their functionality folded into the company's core mobile apps. The eBay Now app had itself already been decommissioned last year, but the service continued to be available through eBay's main app and website.
As the company explains in its statement, however, "while we saw encouraging results with the eBay Now service, we always intended it as a pilot, and we are now exploring delivery and pick-up/drop-off programs that are relevant to many more of our 25 million sellers, and that cover a wider variety of inventory that consumers tell us they want."
The other apps affected by eBay's push to simplify its offerings include eBay Valet and eBay Fashion, which will be shut down in the coming weeks, and eBay Motors, which will stick around a bit longer before being decommissioned "later this year." eBay promises that much of the "key functionality" of the standalone apps will be integrated into its primary apps and website.
The company also notes, however, that this is the "first phase" of its sunset plans, so you can likely expect more simplification to come in the months ahead.
[via CNET]
