Today, consumers are more and more relying on digital solutions to satisfy their needs. E-commerce is booming as is mobile commerce with 1/4 of all retail e-commerce sales taking place on a mobile device. As a result, retailers have been incentivised, even forced, to adopt mobile alternatives to their physical and web stores. For this reason, it is more important than ever before for consumer-focused companies to ensure that their apps are as optimised as possible.

When it comes to the world of online retailing, there are two world-renowned moguls that dominate the market: eBay and Amazon. However, how effective are they in comparison to each other at satisfying their target group’s needs when looking at their app’s functionality and user experience?

Battle of the Apps is Testbirds’ brand new series that has two apps go head-to-head to be crowned the “Choice App” for great usability and functionality. In this edition, a group of 141 testers was asked to compare Amazon and eBay’s apps against each other. Featuring qualitative and quantitative data that explored everything from user experience to pure functionality, testers focused on multiple features such as navigation systems and the checkout process. Let’s see how these two market leaders fared when put to the test:

Quantitative Test Cases

Testers were asked to answer a set of quantitative questions. When looking at the navigation, quality of information available for deliveries and returns, the checkout process, how likely they were to recommend the app to a friend and the overall experience of using each app the following results were found:

Here, we can see that while navigation, the checkout process and likelihood of recommendations are even for both apps scoring at 8 out of 10, Amazon ranks higher in quality of information for returns (9 vs. 8) and deliveries (9 vs. 7). In addition, Amazon ranks higher in the overall experience of the app scoring a 9 versus eBay’s 8.

When looking at pricing, further information, and product pictures, testers reported the following results:

Both apps scored highly in the “Yes” categories but once again, Amazon scores highest overall. The biggest disparity is in the “Did you find delivery information for the product?”, where 12 said no for eBay versus Amazon’s 9.

Qualitative Use Cases

The qualitative section of the test resulted in a number of interesting insights from testers. When asked, “What other information would you expect to find?” the most popular answers for Amazon included “customer” reviews and “more specific delivery details”, whereas testers looking at eBay’s app thought they could use more in-depth details on “methods of payment” and “seller information”. Looking at the account section of Amazon’s app, testers were posed with, “Describe the most useful tools that the user account offers you” and thought that the “Wishlist” and “save items for later” options were the most useful. On the other hand, when presented with the same task for eBay’s user account system, testers agreed that the “Wishlist” was the most useful and added that they found the “price-tracker” valuable.

When putting together, the qualitative and quantitative data paint a clear picture of each app’s functionality and usability. This further ensures that consumers can easily and efficiently use each app for purchasing the vast variety of products they offer. In addition, by analysing and implementing the results, concrete changes can be made that will further allow Amazon and eBay’s target groups to successfully use their apps.

By investigating Amazon and eBay’s apps for functionality and user experience through a set of qualitative and quantitative cases a number of interesting results were found. Analysing the quantitative data clearly shows that on average Amazon’s app was perceived as better than eBay’s. Similarly, the qualitative data indicated that generally, testers found Amazon’s app to be more intuitive than eBay’s. Therefore, we’re happy to announce that this retail edition of Battle of the Apps crowns Amazon to be the clear winner and “Choice App” for consumer’s m-commerce needs.

Written by Test Birds