Auction site eBay will open its first UK highstreet store from 1 December to 5 December where users can scan and pay for goods marked with QR codes using their smartphones. The company claims this is also the first use of QR codes for shopping in the UK. The store will be located in Dean Street in London (pictured), a fashionable location in Soho where eBay will open what it describes as its “Christmas Boutique”. The pop-up store will be “filled with gifts for the family, him and her…” the company says. 

By using their smartphones, users can purchase items while avoiding typical Christmas shopping queues for tills and the carrying of multiple shopping bags.  Shoppers scan the QR code on a product and are taken to eBay’s UK site where they can make a purchase which is then delivered to their home address.  eBay has opened pop-up stores before as it tries to promote its credentials to retailers. Its Paypal unit opened a temporary store in New York at the start of November targeted at interesting merchants and consumers.