Australia’s Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to Shadow Treasurer, Ed Husic and Shadow Minister for Communications, Jason Clare got an up close look at the future of “connected commerce” Wednesday during a visit to eBay Inc.'s headquarters in San Jose.  They took a tour of eBay’s Commerce Innovation Showcase to see first-hand how eBay and PayPal-enabled businesses in their electorates and around the world use Internet and mobile technology to help small and medium-sized businesses.

The Parliamentarians, both representing electorates in western Sydney, were deeply engaged with the eBay Inc. Government Relations team about the significant growth in technology-enabled commerce in Australia, cross-border trade, opportunities in the secondary ticket market, and infrastructure.  According to eBay’s Commerce 3.0: Enabling Australian Export Opportunities report, 78% of commercial eBay sellers in Australia – those with sales of AUD $10,000 or more - export globally, reaching 28 different countries on average, compared to only 3% for companies operating solely offline that export.  With cross-border online shopping projected to increase 300% by 2018 – from $5 billion to $16 billion, according to PayPal’s Modern Spice Routes report – it is clear that eBay Inc.’s innovative platforms will continue to provide tremendous growth opportunities for Australian businesses.