Even though eBay is one of the giants of e-commerce, it's limited by the fact that online sales make up only about 7 percent of all U.S. retail spending. Now it has its eye on the business that currently goes to brick-and-mortar stores—but it will need to rely on smart modeling methods to capture it.

First, eBay will need to know you're about to buy something offline, so it can shoot a message to your smart phone advertising a better deal on its site. Making that possible is a task for 24-year-old Jack Abraham, who joined eBay this fall as its "director of local" after the company acquired his startup, Milo.com, for a reported $75 million.