It apparently took eBay a little while to tally the numbers and write up the press release, but Sunday was a great day for the company. eBay saw mobile shoppers flock to the site, establishing December 12th as the busiest mobile shopping day ever.
An official statement from the company declared, "In the U.S. mobile gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 127 percent over the same Sunday last year, generating nearly $5 million in GMV; worldwide, mobile GMV grew 165 percent generating $13 million in GMV."
The top three categories in terms of GMV were Clothing & Accessories, Cars & Trucks, and Jewelry, Gems, Watches. The top three categories in terms of transaction volume, meanwhile, were Clothing & Accessories, Collectibles, and Cell Phones & Accessories.
One more interesting fact: mobile transactions were occurring at the rate of over 9,500 an hour (or 158 a minute) at one point on Sunday.
Anyway, Steve Yankovich, vice president of mobile at eBay, said, "Mobile has transformed the shopping experience this holiday season. . . . Shopping for great deals anytime and from anywhere continues to gain momentum with consumers. With more than 30 million downloads of our suite of mobile apps globally, we continue to drive mobile innovation and delight our customers around the globe."
Investors seem to have responded well to all this, sending eBay’s stock up 0.56 percent in early trading.