EBay revenue up 27%, launching Paypal in-store purchase pilot
EBay recorded $11.7 billion in net revenue for 2011, a 27% increase compared with the prior year. The company's net income for the year also spiked, jumping 79% year-over-year to $3.2 billion.
During an earnings call, eBay Inc. president and CEO John Donahoe said that “2011 marked an inflection point for shopping” as the divide between online and offline commerce eroded. EBay will launch a pilot program later this week that will enable consumers to conduct purchases via PayPal in 51 Home Depot stores, with most of those stores located in the Bay Area, he said, adding that the company began testing the program with Home Depot during the fourth quarter.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company's marketplaces business generated $6.6 billion in revenue, a 16% rise, to account for 57% of eBay's total 2011 net revenue. The segment had 100.4 active users as of Dec. 31.
Revenue from PayPal grew by 28% year-over-year to $4.4 billion. The payments business ended the year with 106.3 million registered users and recorded 548.1 million payments during the fourth quarter. GSI Commerce, which eBay acquired in March for roughly $2.4 billion, contributed $590 million in revenue.
EBay's fourth-quarter revenue of $3.38 billion surpassed analysts' expectations that eBay would report $3.32 billion in revenue for the quarter.
EBay's operating expenses totaled $5.8 billion for 2011, up 28% from the prior year. The company's spending on sales and marketing swelled 25% to $2.4 billion.
Earlier this month PayPal president Scott Thompson left the company to become Yahoo's CEO.
