eBay CEO and President, John Donahoe took the stage at Shop.org this morning and the theme of his keynote focused on how consumer behavior is driving changes in technology. For close followers of eBay, John started by going over key messages and points we’ve heard in recent presentations – nothing new here. Two core businesses – ecommerce and payments – all about connecting buyers and sellers.
eCommerce Stats
o 88 million eBay users in 39 markets, nearly $60b worth of goods sold in 2008
o 75 million active PP accounts in 190 markets and 19 currencies
o The largest classifieds presence on earth – in more than 1,000 cities, and counting
Payments Stats
o $60b TPV in 2008
o Millions of merchants accept PP; great opportunity for incremental sales
o BML being integrated – adds more value for consumers
o Unmatched advantages (consumers, merchants, network): we bridge the best of web and payments
The second half of his presentation made for more interesting and compelling viewing. John reiterated his belief that customer behavior is driving changes in technology and offered two key areas as proof points – Open Platform & Mobile Commerce.
Open Platform
After giving an overview of the eBay Selling Manager Platform (a kind of app store for online sellers), John talked about how the PayPal platform will be opened to 3rd party development on November 3. He also demonstrated the ease of use of PayPal mobile (he sent Scot Wingo $10 via his iPhone in about 40 seconds direct from the stage).
Mobile Commerce
The meat of the preso, however, came during the closing focus on mobile commerce. It has been a topic of discussion in every presentation and session I’ve attended here at Shop.org and the one key theme has been that “Mobile Commerce is coming, and we need to be ready for it.” John took it a step further saying that it’s not coming down the road, it’s here now and it’s a force. First, John gave some market data to support his statement:
o By 2013, more than 40 percent of all U.S. Internet users will also use their mobile phones to get to the web. (eMarketer, June 2009)
o The iPhone accounts for 43 percent of mobile traffic today, yet the iPhone has only an 8 percent share of the market for mobile. This is the first and best platform for m-commerce … so far.
He then gave some hard data from eBay businesses that hammered it home:
Kijiji
The Kijiji classifieds app, which launched in June, has seen people use it to view nearly 2 million Kijiji ads, and thousands of people have already used it to post ads using their iPhones.PayPal
PayPal’s Send Money app for iPhone launched last July …
o 1.6 million downloads
o WW coverage (190 countries)
o 15 languages supported
o 19 currencies supported
(It should also be pointed out that PayPal is the payment system for RIM’s BlackBerry World app store. Student Accounts launched, allowing parents to fund debit cards for their kids via mobile).eBay
eBay Mobile app for iPhone launched last year and to date, it’s been downloaded by 4 million users, regularly appearing in the top 3 free apps in the lifestyle category.All kinds of things sold through eBay mobile app … the most expensive include:
o A rare Lamborghini for $750k
o A $300k power boatMobile is our fastest-growing business. Our GMV so far this year through the eBay mobile app alone is about $350 million … and growing double digits week on week.
I managed to get some video footage of the Q&A with Patti Freeman Evans of Forrester Research but wanted to share some of the stats quoted throughout his presentation.
Stay tuned for more…
Cheers,
RBH
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