Holy m-commerce, Batman!
According to eBay CEO John Donahoe, shoppers have already spent about $400 million on the popular commerce site using the company’s free iPhone application.
The number pales in comparison with eBay’s total sales figure ($59.7 billion last year), but it’s fairly significant considering the fact that the iPhone has a relatively small market share – about 15% of the smartphone segment – and mobile payment transactions are still new to many. Who would have predicted around half a billion dollar in sales a year would be recorded through the eBay iPhone app when it debuted on the App Store last year?
According to this report by the Financial Times, some wealthy people have used the mobile app to buy a Lamborghini, a Bentley and a $150,000 boat. And if Mobile Marketer heard Donahoe right when he talked numbers at a summit in Las Vegas, the Lamborghini went for $350,000. Talk about being at ease with making purchases from mobile devices.
Most likely, these are the high-profile exceptions to the rule and most people use the app to buy books, clothing and electronics much like regular eBay shoppers do. In total, approximately 4.6 million iPhone owners have downloaded and installed the app to date.
Donahoe also said eBay will soon be introducing the next version of the app with improved functionality and features.
Do they have an app for good phones? Or just the iPhone?
Ok, I’ll bite. What do *you* think a good phone is, Travis?
nokia 3310
Anything that I can hack freely.
I think the only reason that apps do so well on the iPhone is because of the way the app store itself works. Apple has that down, no question.
Of course being a developer myself, I always want to be able to hack away and modify my phone however I please, I just can’t get that on an iPhone. I think Andriod is in the right direction.
Also, I should have been more clear in my comment, I should have said “good phones on good networks”. Even if the iPhone was as open as I would like it to be, I still wouldnt be able to use it, due to AT&T’s horrible service.
Oh, and I’m still rocking an Omnia on Verizon, I realize that WinMo is closed, but Samsung does a great job with their SDK, and I don’t need to buy a MacBook to write an app for my phone
Great coverage as always, Robin.
So, out of all the phones available you still chose one you can’t hack freely? Makes sense.
Stick to Slashdot, dude.
59.7 bill to 1.4 bill this quarter?
eBay total sales: 57.9 billion last year.
eBay’s Shopping business unit’s revenues: 1.4 billion last quarter. (without PayPal, Skype, …)
Maybe the $59.7 billion is the value of all transactions that went through ebay last year and the $1.4bill is ebay’s actual revenue from last quarter?
Push notification is what really makes the eBay app worthwhile. You can browse items on the bus, and then be notified when you are outbid (or when the auction is about to end).
Accessibility is the key when comes to eBay success. Being connected to the internet all the time accounts for eBay’s iPhone app massive profit. The longer you stay in a store, the more likely you’re to spend. If you give eBay users the ability to shop anywhere, they will do just that.
The $59.7 billion is Gross Merchandise Sales (GMS) which is the value of all the good sold. This is the money the eBay buyers pay to the eBay Sellers. The $1.4 billion is Revenue – the money eBay collects from the sellers as fees.
The most interesting aspect of the whole eBay mobile saga is that Donahoe didn’t want to build the app. The app had no funding until another department said this is crazy and we have to do this and paid for a 3rd party developer to build the app. As a result of this success, Donahoe sacked the entire mobile 1 year ago. eBay Mobile is 1 guy who outsources the development.
Interesting. I attended a talk at the Strange Loop conference (http://thestrangeloop.com/) last week by an eBay mobile application architect, Michael Galpin. Are you saying he’s the only mobile guy?
News Flash! – Dateline San Jose California: People use internet capable device to access popular website. Film at Eleven.
But… but… all the Apple Haters told me there was nothing in the App Store but fart apps.
Don’t you ever get tired of trolling Paul? How many sites do you do this on?
$400 million is just an overstated, overhyped number. Does it include bids? Actual checkouts?
I can understand the excitement over this.. but this $400mil is essentially not NEW business for Ebay. The same folks who use it on their computer are now using it on the mobile. It would be fun to know how much of this was new users.
In the long run ebay needs to innovate. The business model has reached maturity phase. Growth will come only if there is a “category rejuvenation” – to borrow the phrase from Moore.
I see quiet a few startups who will pose a serious challenge to ebay.. guys like http://www.auct...onbynumbers.com (Auction By numbers) or Swoopo
EBAY’s A JOKE! Why would you use ebay anyways? They just rip people off. Try Selling on sellbits.com. They’re much cheaper and easier to use.