eBay and PayPal eye an US$8.5bn m-commerce opportunity

20 Oct 2011

Mobile commerce represents a US$8.5bn opportunity for eBay and its online payments arm PayPal, the president and CEO of eBay John Donohoe believes. eBay reported Q3 revenues of US$3bn last night and its PayPal division processed almost US$30bn in payments.

Explosive growth in e-commerce has led to a 32pc increase in third-quarter revenues of US$3bn at eBay, which was able to deliver a net profit of US$490.5m.

Its online payments arm PayPal’s revenues also jumped 32pc, with US$29.3bn in online payments processed during the quarter.

The future of commerce

“Our company reported another strong quarter, with eBay, PayPal and GSI each performing well,” said Donahoe.

Donahoe said the company is seeing a significant rise in mobile commerce (m-commerce) activity among consumers who see m-commerce as an easier way to source and pay for goods.

Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay. We expect eBay mobile commerce to generate almost US$5bn in merchandise volume this year and PayPal mobile to exceed US$3.5bn in payment volume.

“Mobile is one way online and offline shopping are blending into a single commerce environment. We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes.”

PayPal continued to expand its leadership position in global payments. PayPal ended the quarter with 103.0m active registered accounts, a 14pc increase year over year.

PayPal revenue increased 32pc year over year driven primarily by increased penetration on eBay, as well as continued merchant and consumer adoption.

PayPal’s net total payment volume (TPV) grew 31pc to US$29.3bn in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the same period of last year.

PayPal continues to invest in innovation, focusing on the core platform, as well as mobile and point of sale initiatives. PayPal expects to generate more than US$3.5bn in mobile TPV in 2011, up from US$750m in 2010.

The company’s Marketplaces business also delivered a strong third-quarter performance. Gross merchandise volume (GMV), excluding vehicles, increased by 16pc year over year to US$14.7bn.

GMV, excluding vehicles, increased 14pc year over year, driven by continued improvements in customer experience on the site and growth in key shopping categories. International GMV, excluding vehicles, increased 18pc year over year to US$9.1bn, reflecting solid growth in Europe, continued improved performance in Korea, as well as a positive impact from foreign exchange.

Improved cross-border trade performance contributed to GMV growth as currencies strengthened against the US dollar.

The company continued to benefit from growing adoption of its suite of mobile applications as downloads surpassed 50m globally since the launch of mobile in the third quarter of 2008. eBay expects to generate almost US$5bn in mobile GMV in 2011, more than double mobile GMV in 2010.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com