EBay launches online store for new products

SAN JOSE, Calif. — To attract more shoppers, online auctioneer eBay Inc. on Monday launched “eBay Express,” an online store to sell new items ranging from cookware and books to electronics — all with no bidding involved.

The new store will feature a subset of items from merchants who already hawk new products at fixed prices on eBay. But unlike the regular eBay setup, purchased items from multiple sellers on eBay Express can all be placed into a single shopping cart, mirroring the checkout systems used by more conventional Internet shopping sites.

Express shoppers also would not have to wait for an auction-style listing to end — a wait that can take days. Items could be purchased with either PayPal, eBay’s online payment service, or a credit card.

“We wanted to build a shopping experience toward convenience-oriented buyers who wanted to buy new items and make the purchases really quickly,” said Jamie Iannone, eBay’s senior director of product marketing.

More than 10 million items were available at the Express store’s launch, Iannone said.

The offering, which will be initially available only in the United States, comes as the e-commerce giant faces stiffening competition.