eBay has garnered a lot of attention this holiday shopping season by posting some impressive mobile commerce figures, and is now reflecting on the past year by releasing its global mobile shopping trends for 2010.
The past year has seen a lot of movement in terms of mobile commerce, with numerous announcements and launches from major players and increased consumer sentiment towards researching and paying for items via mobile devices. As eBay is one of the largest marketplaces in existence, the company has been at the forefront of the mCommerce revolution since the beginning.
“As mobile shopping peaked this year, eBay led the way by becoming the go-to shopping destination,” said Steve Yankovich, vice president of mobile for eBay. “With more than 30 million downloads of eBay’s mobile apps worldwide, eBay is clearly a barometer for mobile shopping trends. We see people buying everything from designer apparel to cars and trucks on their phones regularly, and purchases being made through eBay mobile every second.”
Diving into the data, largely derived from the company’s infographic application launched a while back that visualizes eBay mobile shopping trends from Jan. 1 through Dec. 21, the top five categories ranked by the number of items sold through eBay’s mobile apps for the year were: clothing shoes & accessories; cell phones & PDAs; collectibles; jewelry & watches; and toys & hobbies. Here’s some highlights from eBay’s “global mobile shopping moments” of 2010:
- High-End Holiday Spending: During the holiday shopping season (Nov. 25 – Dec. 25), U.S. eBay mobile sales grew 134 percent over the same period last year, generating nearly $100 million in GMV; worldwide, mobile sales grew 166 percent generating $230 million in GMV. Designer handbags, diamond jewelry and Rolex watches topped this year’s most expensive holiday purchases.
- Sports Shopping Spree: Major sporting events drove fans to shop on eBay mobile to commemorate some of the most highly coveted competitions. Based on mobile sales, the sports memorabilia category peaked in Canada, during February’s XXI Olympic Winter Games held in Vancouver, B.C. The category also peaked in Germany during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ South Africa, where Germany placed third, in June and July, and in France during July’s Tour de France®.
- Gaming Lovers: Valentine’s Day has become a boon for the video game industry as World of Warcraft® and Final Fantasy® hosted special online gaming events. Video game sales through eBay’s mobile apps spiked 68 percent week-over-week for the week ending on Feb. 14.
- Must-have Gadgets: In the U.S., tech lovers flocked to eBay as the iPad made its debut on April 4, driving the consumer electronics category to its annual peak the day after Apple’s tablet device first arrived in retail stores. On June 24, the day the iPhone® 4 launched in the U.S., the cell phones & accessories category hit its annual peak as a flurry of new and pre-owned iPhones were listed on eBay.
- Fashion Fanatics: As eBay released its Fashion app for iPhone this summer, clothing & accessories was a consistently popular category on mobile. In Canada and France, clothing & accessories was a top category overall based on mobile sales; it was a top three category in Australia, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. During the busy shopping period between Black Friday (Nov. 29) and Mobile Sunday (Dec. 12), the category ranked number one in the U.S., in both GMV and sold items.
