| Mon, Jun 08, 2009 |
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Analyst: Amazon Third-Party Sales Driving Growth: How Long Will It Continue?
Amazon’s third-party fulfillment business, in which big retailers like Gap or Eddie Bauer sell their goods on Amazon and use the site to warehouse and ship their products in return for a cut of the sale, has been growing briskly. The company doesn’t break out those revenues, but in its first-quarter results, Amazon said items shipped for sellers who used its third-party fulfillment services were up 300% from the prior year.
Many observers think success in this area is key to Amazon’s ability to stay dominant in the e-commerce space. So how much more growth can Amazon extract? Plenty, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen Ju. Ju pored over Amazon’s listings and contacted vendors, and says Amazon’s third-party numbers for the second quarter, which Amazon hasn’t released yet, will represent impressive growth, with international showing the most strength.
—U.S. third-party listings grew 5 percent to 10 percent in the second quarter 2009.—U.K. third-party listings grew about 60 percent during the quarter, while Germany, Japan and France grew in the triple digits.—Increased selection is also boosting Amazon results. The company added office supply items internationally and expanded its jewelry selection in Japan.
eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) remains well ahead of Amazon in selling goods for third parties—Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates it sells 10 times as many third-party goods as Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN). But Amazon’s momentum in this area could put pressure on eBay, which has had some trouble retaining sellers recently.
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Analyst: Amazon Third-Party Sales Driving Growth: How Long Will It Continue?
Amazon’s third-party fulfillment business, in which big retailers like Gap or Eddie Bauer sell their goods on Amazon and use the site to warehouse and ship their products in return for a cut of the sale, has been growing briskly. The company doesn’t break out those revenues, but in its first-quarter results, Amazon said items shipped for sellers who used its third-party fulfillment services were up 300% from the prior year.
Many observers think success in this area is key to Amazon’s ability to stay dominant in the e-commerce space. So how much more growth can Amazon extract? Plenty, according to RBC Capital Markets analyst Stephen Ju. Ju pored over Amazon’s listings and contacted vendors, and says Amazon’s third-party numbers for the second quarter, which Amazon hasn’t released yet, will represent impressive growth, with international showing the most strength.
—U.S. third-party listings grew 5 percent to 10 percent in the second quarter 2009.—U.K. third-party listings grew about 60 percent during the quarter, while Germany, Japan and France grew in the triple digits.—Increased selection is also boosting Amazon results. The company added office supply items internationally and expanded its jewelry selection in Japan.
eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) remains well ahead of Amazon in selling goods for third parties—Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates it sells 10 times as many third-party goods as Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN). But Amazon’s momentum in this area could put pressure on eBay, which has had some trouble retaining sellers recently.
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| Thu, Jun 04, 2009 |
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Analyst: eBay Is Turning Itself Around
Critics have blamed eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) for failing to make improvements to its site, and questioned whether it can remain an e-commerce leader. The company has stumbled somewhat as of late—revenue declined 7 percent and 11 percent, respectively, the past two quarters. But Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal believes the company is starting to turn itself around, citing a number of improvements in an analysis of the site released today:
—Improved search functionality: Aggarwal said the company had improved its search algorithm to better highlight products sold by members with the highest seller ratings, which he believes could lead to more sales and a better consumer experience (buyers want to be matched with the highest-quality sellers). In addition, Aggarwal noted that search helps customers looking for a fixed price versus an auction because it is moving more toward emphasizing seller ratings in its results versus the time remaining in an auction (which is not included in listings for products with fixed prices). —Better selection: Aggarwal believes that by lowering its listing fee and allowing up to five free listings under the auction format, eBay will get more sellers to list products, which will lead to better selection on the site.—More free-shipping listings to entice buyers: In the past, buyers at eBay have complained about excessive shipping fees (sellers who often profited by charging more than it actually cost to ship). Aggarwal said the company has been encouraging and incentivizing sellers (he did not provide specifics) to offer more free-shipping deals, and an analysis of the site indicated as much as half of eBay’s listings offer free shipping versus single-digit numbers in 2008.
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| Wed, Jun 03, 2009 |
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Analyst: eBay Is Turning Itself Around
Critics have blamed eBay (NSDQ: EBAY) for failing to make improvements to its site, and questioned whether it can remain an e-commerce leader. The company has stumbled somewhat as of late—revenue declined 7 percent and 11 percent, respectively, the past two quarters. But Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal believes the company is starting to turn itself around, citing a number of improvements in an analysis of the site released today:
—Improved search functionality: Aggarwal said the company had improved its search algorithm to better highlight products sold by members with the highest seller ratings, which he believes could lead to more sales and a better consumer experience (buyers want to be matched with the highest-quality sellers). In addition, Aggarwal noted that search helps customers looking for a fixed price versus an auction because it is moving more toward emphasizing seller ratings in its results versus the time remaining in an auction (which is not included in listings for products with fixed prices). —Better selection: Aggarwal believes that by lowering its listing fee and allowing up to five free listings under the auction format, eBay will get more sellers to list products, which will lead to better selection on the site.—More free-shipping listings to entice buyers: In the past, buyers at eBay have complained about excessive shipping fees (sellers who often profited by charging more than it actually cost to ship). Aggarwal said the company has been encouraging and incentivizing sellers (he did not provide specifics) to offer more free-shipping deals, and an analysis of the site indicated as much as half of eBay’s listings offer free shipping versus single-digit numbers in 2008.
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| Mon, Jun 01, 2009 |
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Seatwave Lands $17 Million VC In Ongoing Viagogo Dogfight
The two big secondary tickets marketplaces are now playing “anything you can do, I can do better” on the VC front. Seatwave has raised a $17 million (£10.5 million) fourth round from existing backers Atlas, Mangrove and Fidelity, led by new investor Accel. Atlas, which basically created the whole project together with CEO Joe Cohen, remains the largest shareholder, writes Atlas partner Fred Destin.
Seatwave raised seed and $3 million first-round funds from Atlas in 2006, $8 million from Mangrove and Atlas in 2007, then $25 million from Fidelity, Atlas, Mangrove, AdInvest and Holtzbrinck in February 2008, so is now operating on a big $53 million in venture investments. Rival Viagogo has totted up $70 million in same, including a $15 million round in February from Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and others. Each appears to be in a battle for a big exit to eBay (NSDQ: EBAY), just as Viagogo CEO Eric Baker accomplished with StubHub, or to LiveNation.
Transactions Seatwave processed in Q408 increased 66 percent on the previous three months, driven by demand for theatre tickets, and the site is keen to trumpet comScore’s March rankings, which found it’s Europe’s most-visited secondary ticketing site on 1.9 million unique users, on demand for Michael Jackson tickets.
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