Ecommerce companies like eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) were going strong through Cyber Monday, but will the trend continue? Raymond James analyst Aaron Kessler examined data from IBM Digital Analytics, Channel Advisor and Mercent which shows some great trends for ecommerce companies this holiday shopping season.
Amazon going strong
The data showed that although Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s sales were going strong, the company remained roughly in line with Kessler’s expectations. Channel Advisor data suggests the online retailer saw a 34.9% increase in same-store sales for the Cyber Five period , compared to a 37.7% increase last year. Cyber Monday sales rose 46.2% year over year, compared to 42.4% last year.
For the third quarter of this year, Amazon saw a 25% year over year growth, and for October, the retailer saw a 24% year over year growth. Data from Mercent showed 25% growth year over year for the Cyber Five period. Kessler estimates that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s Electronics and Other segment saw 33.5% year over year revenue growth, which is just slightly ahead of the company’s third quarter result of 33% growth.
eBay beating expectations so far
According to Channel Advisor, eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY)’s results have been ahead of Kessler’s expectations. The data showed same-store sales for the Cyber Five period rose 29.7% year over year, compared to 38.3% last year. Cyber Monday sales increased 32% year over year, compared to 55.2% last year. The firm also reported that eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) used more promotions this year, offering extra daily deals.
Kessler is estimating that eBay will report North America Gross Merchandise Volume growth of 13% year over year for the fourth quarter, compared to 14.5% in the third quarter.
The data from Mercent showed that Google Shopping gained market share for the Thursday through Sunday holiday shopping period. Thanksgiving day sales growth was reported to be 69%, while Black Friday and Saturday sales rose 47% each day year over year. On Sunday, the data suggested that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s Sunday sales over the Cyber shopping weekend rose 40%. For the full Cyber Five period, Channel Advisor showed that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) had an 11.6% increase in sales year over year, compared to a decrease of .7% last year.
Google Shopping or Product Listing Ads rose 126% year over year over the weekend, and Channel Advisor reported that they took share from “search and comparison shopping channels.”
Groupon Goods the main driver for Groupon
Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN) also reported solid Cyber Five shopping results, although Kessler notes that the lower gross margin Goods segment appeared to be the main driver. North American billings for the weekend rose 30% year over year. Kessler is estimating that for the full fourth quarter, Groupon will see an 8% year over year growth, so the company could come out ahead of that estimate.
Groupon’s strengths were said to be in toys, home goods and electronics. Also mobile was a big deal for Groupon Inc (NASDAQ:GRPN), as over half of completed transactions were done through a mobile device.
