Our 5 big takeaways from CES 2018

eBay was pleased to be a part of the Consumer Electronics Show 2018, which was held over January 9-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This conference has served as a groundwork for many innovative companies and ideas for the past 50 years, and included 4,000 exhibiting companies and many inspiring speakers.

On the show floor, smart pet beds, automatic laundry folders, and virtual assistants were just a few of the highlights. Beyond the hype and gimmicks, the show was an invaluable platform for eBay to discuss what is on the horizon for our partners in 2018. eBay met with over 30 partners including brands, agencies, and other ad tech players in our hospitality suite. Here are the top commerce trends discussed:

1. Automation on the Horizon

Key players are excited about the shift toward utilizing more first-party data, combined with programmatic PMP’s. With over 280 million monthly hours of actual shopping and purchase behavior collected every month and 168M active global shoppers, eBay uses our data insights to help brands reach their target audience at moments that matter the most.

2. Harnessing the Power of Data

Application of first party data and insights are powerful learnings that brands need to help set overall goals and strategy. This ultimately can motivate better business results with more transparency into target customers. eBay can leverage our vast shopper data to micro-target key audience segments, as well as reach new audiences based on their shopping behavior and buying habits. eBay uses these shopper journey insights on its diverse platform to deliver data to brands and sellers.

3. Delivering Holistic Ad Solutions

Brands and agency partners are hungry for further education about eBay’s ad offerings. Partners are eager to work with a commerce platform that is building sustainable, holistic solutions for marketers to grow their share of sales on and off eBay. Commerce platforms have increased their online footprint and are now reaching over 72% of the population. To drive sustained growth in 2018, marketers must re-think their advertising strategy and expand their reach and frequency to connect with consumers at scale. eBay works as a seller and a distribution channel, providing the integration, incubation, and amplification that brands need.

4. Brand Safety is Key

This is a topic that continues to be top of mind for advertisers as they budget for 2018. In 2016 alone, 20% of total digital ad spend was wasted as a result of ad fraud. eBay has created a trusted, transparent marketplace based on strong ethical values. eBay also takes proactive steps to fight ad fraud. Through a universal login, eBay can link user shopping behavior to real humans without relying solely on cookies. Over 80% of eBay users are logged-in, which allows us to deterministically identify them across channels, browsers and devices. This helps to ensure a reliable and effective ad campaign, devoid of fraud.

5. All Eyes on AI

On and off the show floor, AR and AI were popular buzzwords. Partners are eager to understand how these technological advancements are being integrated into the eBay experience. eBay uses AI and big data to learn how people move at a granular scale. This helps us to better connect with consumers, brands and businesses. eBay has an AI-powered, personalized homepage with 1.1B listings, 280M monthly hours of shopping data, and 268M unique monthly shoppers. This has made it easier to shop and sell on the platform.

You can view more highlights from CES here, as well as full coverage by CNET here.