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Category: OmniChannelMarketer

OmniChannelMarketer

  • Adobe Tapping Experience to Empower Enterprise Marketers

    With the inspirational mantra “Make Experience Your Business” and the goal of reshaping digital marketing for enterprises, Adobe announced the launch of their re-invented marketing cloud Adobe Experience Cloud at Adobe Summit 2017 this week.

    “At Adobe, we make digital memorable, and today at Adobe Summit, we planted the flag for the next generation of innovation in experiences with our announcement of the Adobe Experience Cloud. Together with Adobe Creative Cloud and Adobe Document Cloud, Adobe provides enterprises everything they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences.”

    “Adobe Experience Cloud” will bring together the company’s current marketing, advertising, analytics services into a package that the company says is broadly applicable across many segments of technology buyers.

    “Four or five years ago, the chief marketing officer was underserved,” Brad Rencher, Executive VP and GM of Digital Marketing Adobe, recently told Fortune. “What’s happened since then is the principles of digital marketing, the need for real-time action, for data, for great content, for personalization for mobile apps in the store and in the car has gone way beyond the marketing department.”

    Back then, the need to create content and get it to the right people in a timely fashion via the right channel was something that maybe 30% of a company’s execs had to worry about. Now that percentage is more like 90%, said Rencher. That means the sort of software Adobe offers, like its Analytics Cloud for gauging interest in web content, could be used across many departments. Analytics Cloud is based on Adobe’s $1.8 billion acquisition of Omniture in 2009.

    By integrating all of Adobe’s Marketing tools and solutions in the Marketing, Analytics, and Advertising Clouds, with Creative and Document Clouds, Adobe’s Experience Cloud aims to help enterprises be much better “experience businesses“.

  • Facebook Announces Inventory-Smart Dynamic Ads for Nearby Retail

    Facebook Announces Inventory-Smart Dynamic Ads for Nearby Retail

    Facebook is getting better at competing for brick & mortar ad dollars, announcing an ability to tie a retailers inventory into their product ads, so that they aren’t advertising out of stock items. Very smart and necessary to compete with Google for online retail ad dollars.

    Just this past June, Facebook added features to track in-store purchases prompted by a retailers Facebook ads. We wrote at the time:

    This is the holy grail for convincing brick and mortar advertisers that Facebook is an effective platform to drive in-store business, assuming the data shows their advertising working. It could also be Facebook’s achilles hill if advertisers discover that their ads aren’t driving business.

    Tying ads to inventory is a way for Facebook to increase click to conversion percentages. This lowers a marketers ad cost per sale, and is an especially important metric which retailers use when considering their ads effectiveness.

    The inventory feature is targeted toward large retailers like JC Penny, Nike and Coach, of which many have been insisting on connecting their local inventory availability before they make large Facebook marketing commitments. Facebook is still in the very early stages of their attempt to make their platform a local retail sales channel.

    Facebook, with this new feature, gives retailers the ability to create customize creative for every store location based on local product availability, pricing or promotions. This is a major step toward attracting the big brands and is a continuation of where they see most of their ad revenue coming from in the future.

    Consumers are now using their mobile phones to price check, look for coupons and compare products while in the store and they are also continuing to engage in social media. Facebook aims to take advantage of this and over time change the mind-set of their users about Facebook, making it about both social exchange and ecommerce and in-effect combining the two.

    “If a fashion retailer wishes to advertise a nationwide sales event happening at every store, dynamic ads for retail will only showcase products that are in-stock at a nearby store and display the price found at that location,” said Facebook in a blog announcement of this feature. “As the ads are linked to the local product catalog, if a product sells out in one store the campaign automatically adjusts so that people in that region will no longer see it advertised. Product selection for each ad can be optimized based on people’s online and mobile shopping behavior.”

    screen-shot-2016-09-20-at-2-56-12-pm

    Facebook describes their dynamic retail ads this way:
    • Local availability: An availability indicator on the ad shows people that a product is available at a store near them, and the store locator makes it easy for people to get directions.
    • Product summaries: Advertisers can use Facebook-hosted product summaries to give potential shoppers the information they need without leaving the Facebook app.
    • Different actions: Product summaries include ways for people to take actions like contacting the nearest store, buying online, or saving the product for future reference.
    • Similar products: Similar products available at the nearest store are featured so people can browse the aisles right from their phone.

    Facebook says that they are currently testing dynamic ads for retail with advertisers including Abercrombie & Fitch, Argos, Macy’s, Pottery Barn and Target. They will be expanding to more retailers in the coming weeks.

    “Extending the power of Facebook’s dynamic ads to in-store inventory opens up exciting new possibilities for Macy’s as an omni-channel retailer,” says Serena Potter, Group Vice President Digital Media Strategy at Macy’s. “We were excited to be the first up and running with Facebook’s dynamic ads for retail as it truly allows us to personalize product ads based on online behavior and inventory at the nearest Macy’s store. This bridges our online and offline channels to deliver a more engaging, relevant, and useful experience to shoppers.”

    Facebook Also Introduces Store Visits Objective Options

    “We’re also introducing our first marketing objective built specifically for advertisers to drive more people to their stores or business locations,” noted Facebook. “The store visits objective builds on the geo-targeting and ad format features of the local awareness ad solution and introduces store visits as the primary reporting metric and a new optimization model.”

    They have added features to let retail brick & mortar advertisers add an objective defined by the marketer in order make their marketing more efficient. They said that Albertsons grocery store used this in beta tests that decreases their cost-per-store-visit by 40 percent.

    Also added were improvements to geo-targeting, where advertisers can now define a geo radius based on population density and desired reach.

    All of these features are only available in mobile Facebook advertising.

  • For ROI, Email Marketing Makes Big Leap Over Last Year

    For ROI, Email Marketing Makes Big Leap Over Last Year

    Salesforce released its 2016 State of Marketing Report, finding that marketers are seeing increased ROI with email, mobile, and social media marketing. The report is based on a survey of about 4,000 marketers from around the world.

    Of those who use email marketing, 80% agree it is core to their business. Nearly half of them say it’s directly linked to their business’ primary revenue source. That’s up 140% from last year’s report. 79% of marketers, according to this year’s, say email generates ROI, which is a 48% increase year-over-year.

    Salesforce Reports Email Data

    The report says that intelligent email is driving higher revenue.

    “As email personalization capabilities grow more sophisticated, the channel becomes even more integral for marketers to deliver a holistic customer journey,” it reads. “Eighty percent of marketers agree that email is core to their business.”

    “Predictive technology is breathing new life into established marketing channels such as email,” the report adds. “Top teams are 4.2x more likely than underperformers to leverage predictive intelligence or data science to create personalized emails.”

    Salesforce email data

    What’s interesting is the diversity in the types of campaigns found to be effective. Take a look:

    salesforce email data

    The high-performing marketers, Salesforce says, are 2.3x more likely to trigger personalized emails in real time based on events. The high performers in general take a “more sophisticated” approach to email, it says.

    sophisticated email marketing

    75% of marketers using social report that it’s generating ROI, which is a 166% increase from last year’s report. Unsurprisingly, Facebook is found to be the most effective social channel for high-performing teams. This is followed by Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and then Instagram. Considering that advertising on Instagram is in its early days, it’s likely it will gain significance if you ask me.

    In terms of mobile, adoption of location-based mobile tracking saw a 149% increase while mobile push notifications saw a 145% increase. Mobile text messaging adoption saw an 111% increase, and mobile app adoption saw a 98% increase. More importantly, 77% of those who use mobile as part of their marketing strategy say it actively generates ROI, up 147% from lat year’s report.

    The report found that 65% of high-performing marketers say they’ve adopted a customer journey strategy. 88% say such a strategy is critical to their marketing success.

    The study found that 58% of high-performing marketing teams strongly agree they’re implementing digital transformations across the company. This compares to just 8% of underperformers. 63% of the high-performers also say they’re excellent at creating personalized, omnichannel customer experiences across all business units. It’s just 2% for the underperformers.

    You can find the full 2016 State of Marketing Report here.

    All charts via Salesforce

  • Big Facebook News For Anyone Publishing Content

    Big Facebook News For Anyone Publishing Content

    Facebook announced that on April 12, it will open Instant Articles to all publishers. This means that any publisher, regardless of size, will have this same content advantage as the major players Facebook has already catered to with the offering. If you create content, listen up!

    Do you plan to implement Facebook Instant Articles? Do you expect it to be an advantage? Share your thoughts in the comments.

    So far, Facebook has been allowing a few hundred publishers to take advantage, but this should mean a better user experience for many more pieces of content in users’ News Feeds.

    To be clear, Facebook says it’s extending the offering to any content publisher or blog. If you have a blog, you’ll be able to utilize Instant Articles.

    If you don’t have a blog, why the heck not? As we recently saw in a study from TrackMaven, blogs are frequently overlooked by businesses these days in favor of social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. But blogs can still be very effective and utilizing them more often can help you out a lot. Hopefully Instant Articles will only add momentum.

    You can sell and serve your own display ads in Instant Articles and keep 100% of the revenue. You can also monetize unsold inventory using display ads from Facebook’s Audience Network.

    You don’t have to create original content for Facebook. It’s just another way to distribute content you’re already producing. When someone shares an Instant Article on Twitter or by email, it also shares a link to your site.

    Beyond loading quickly, Instant Articles offer publishers some other interesting functionality such as autoplay videos that begin as readers scroll, the ability to zoom in on photos while tilting the phone, the ability to like and comment on individual photos and videos in a story, geo-tagged images, and swipable photo galleries.

    Product manager Josh Roberts says:

    Media organizations and journalists are an integral part of Facebook, and we’re committed to delivering products that will create the best experience for publishers and their readers. With Instant Articles, publishers have full control over the look of their stories, as well as data and ads. They have the ability to bring their own direct-sold ads and keep 100% of the revenue, and track data on the ads served through their existing ad measurement systems, or they can monetize their content through the Facebook Audience Network. Additionally, publishers can use their existing web-based analytics systems to track article traffic or use third-party providers. They can do all this while accessing a rich suite of multimedia tools to create dynamic, interactive stories, that will load quickly everywhere on Facebook, regardless of where in the world their readers are.

    We’ve made it easy for publishers to join by building a system based on the tools they already use. Instant Articles uses the languages of the web and works with publishers’ content management systems, and we have documented an open standard that is easy for publishers to adopt. We encourage all interested publishers to review our documentation and prepare for open availability in April, at which point they will be able to share this fast, interactive experience with their readers.

    Regarding content and audience analytics, Instant Articles supports comScore attribution, and publishers can use their existing analytics systems or third-party providers like Google Analytics or Omniture. The company is also in talks with European attribution and measurement providers.

    Facebook also lets publishers track reader-engagement with its own analytics tools. In addition to aggregate activity data, it provides info on article reach and engagement, time spent in each article, scroll-depth and engagement with rich media assets like photos and videos.

    The Instant Articles themselves so far appear for iPhone and Android users. Facebook says they work for any article type from daily coverage to long-form, in-depth articles.

    In case you’re wondering how much work it’s going to take to implement Instant Articles, Facebook says it has tried to make things as easy as possible.

    “After some basic setup, publishers can automate Instant Article production directly from their own content management systems, via RSS,” the company explains in an FAQ document. “Facebook provides tools so publishers can see all the items in their Facebook publishing feed and edit or revise content manually. Facebook also provides tools for publishers to preview articles before publication.”

    You’re no doubt wondering if using Instant Articles will help you in News Feed ranking and organic reach. Facebook’s official answer is no, but I’m sure it won’t hurt. They certainly seem to favor Facebook videos over YouTube videos.

    The April 12 launch date coincides with Facebook’s f8 developer conference, so there will no doubt be plenty of related takeaways coming out of that.

    F8 registration opened up earlier this month. You can apply here. They’ll also stream the event online.

    Google’s answer to Instant Articles – the open source AMP (which is being adopted by a variety of other organizations) – will get its real start for users this month when Google starts sending search traffic to the pages.

    Between AMP and Instant Articles, the mobile user experience in general is probably about to get a lot better over the coming months.

    Are you going to implement Instant Articles with your content? What about AMP? Let us know in the comments.

    Image via Facebook

  • Facebook Shares New Research On Shopping Habits

    Facebook Shares New Research On Shopping Habits

    Facebook Insights (FBIQ) is sharing new research on what drives shoppers to use their mobile devices and the barriers they face.

    It found that 56% of omni-channel shoppers said that they made a purchase on a mobile device because they were already using it. 55% said it’s because they can do it anywhere, anytime.

    60% say they’ll start purchasing or purchase more on their smartphones this year. 64% think they’ll do more shopping research on their smartphones. 61% expect to be using their smartphones more while in physical stores this year.

    “Some shoppers still prefer buying on desktop, laptop or in-store, as they are dissatisfied with the omni-channel experience across their devices, especially on mobile,” a spokesperson for Facebook tells us.

    56% of shoppers prefer desktop or laptop because it’s easier to see all the available products while 55% find it easier to use devices with a bigger screen. 27% find it difficult to compare products and retailers on a smartphone or tablet, and 26% find that entering personal data is not user friendly on a smartphone or tablet.

    You can read more about the findings and what Facebook says it means for marketers in this post on the Facebook IQ blog.

    Images via Facebook

  • Facebook And Instagram Stats To Consider This Holiday Season

    Facebook And Instagram Stats To Consider This Holiday Season

    Facebook is sharing some new research from FBIQ about how people are shopping online for the holidays these days. Naturally, they’re also reminding businesses that they have various ads and marketing tools that can help them take advantage of these habits.

    Do you expect Facebook and/or Instagram to play a significant role in your holiday efforts this year? What specific tools/features? Let us know in the comments.

    “Last year’s holiday season signaled a major shift in the way people shop,” a Facebook spokesperson tells WebProNews. “More people started their shopping online, even when intending to buy in store, and mobile traffic also rose. And this year, more people are shopping on mobile – nearly one-third of online transactions are on mobile and the percentage of online purchasers who buy on mobile will grow 30% by Q4 (as shared by FBIQ last week).”

    For reference, FBIQ released data on growth in engagement and purchase behavior via mobile devices. Some key takeaways from that were:

    – From January to May 2015, 3 in 10 online purchases took place on mobile and the frequency of mobile purchases increased 35%

    – Over the course of the year, those purchasing on a mobile device steadily increased and in Q4, Facebook IQ predicts that the percentage of online purchasers who buy on mobile will grow 30%

    – 73% of people say mobile devices are always with them

    – 45% of all shopping journeys contain an action on mobile—everything from discovering to researching to buying (57% for Millennials)

    – In the year ahead, 64% of omni-channel shoppers anticipate doing more research on their smartphones and 61% expect to be using their smartphone more while in physical stores

    More on that particular research here.

    “As people and businesses increasingly connect on mobile this holiday season, [we] wanted to recap the tools Facebook and Instagram have recently built out related to commerce and direct response that both allow brands to maximize mobile campaigns this holiday season and allow shoppers a personalized discovery experience – for reference Sheryl [Sandberg] called out the growing success of our commerce-related products leading into holiday during last week’s earnings call.”

    Facebook says its dynamic product ads allow brands to promote all of their products for the holidays with unique creative “efficiently at scale” without having to configure individual ads. The carousel format, it says, gives marketers more options for “compelling holiday storytelling” in News Feed. This now includes video in addition to images. The format drives 30 – 50 percent lower cost-per-conversion compared to single image link ads, according to the company.

    Facebook is also touting Instagram ads, which are now available to businesses globally and Facebook videos (which are seeing 8 billion daily views) as other helpful holiday marketing tools.

    To back up its claims, Facebook is sharing research about how people do their online holiday shopping. Stats include:

    – 37% plan to do most of their shopping before Black Friday

    – In the US and UK, 1 in 2 holiday shoppers plan to do most of their shopping before Black Friday

    – 53% plan to shop across channels

    – 40% plan to shop online more than last year

    – 44% of people say an activity or meal with a loved one is a gift they want, but only 34% plan to give that as a gift

    – 41% of people want the gift of travel, but only 15% plan to give the gift of travel

    – Last December, 73% of posts, photos, and videos were created on mobile

    – People share 28% more photos/videos on mobile during Holiday season vs. rest of the year

    – 63% of Instagrammers say they use Instagram to document their lives

    – 8 billion daily video views on Facebook, and the vast majority are on mobile

    – 74% of Millennials on Instagram take action based on posts

    – 2.7X more posts, photos and videos shared on mobile than desktop last December

    – Last year, 1 in 4 purchases were on mobile

    “People are shopping across more channels and devices more than ever before,” the spokesperson tells us. “Many shoppers are starting early — but many shoppers will also be on the hunt throughout the season.”

    “The opportunity for experiential gifting is on the rise—as illustrated by the gap between the experiences that many people hope to receive and what they are likely to receive this Holiday season,” they added. “Mobile has made the holiday celebration vastly more visual…Mobile is a constant companion throughout the Holidays—from discovery to consideration to action to shopping and sharing.”

    More in the following infographic:

    Do you expect to utilize Facebook’s offerings to drive sales this season? Discuss.

    Images via Facebook

  • Mobile And Reviews To Be Big Factors In Shopping This Season?

    Mobile And Reviews To Be Big Factors In Shopping This Season?

    Social Media Link released some interesting findings based on a survey of 21,000 active social media users. It finds that this holiday season, peer-to-peer online reviews will influence what goes on shoppers’ lists.

    How big of a role do reviews play in driving your sales? Discuss.

    83% of those polled said they discover new products on a monthly basis through social media before other sources while 67% said they always or often seek out family or close friends’ recommendations online while researching a purchase. Such recommendations have impact for 65%.

    Social Media Link CEO Susan Frech says, “Holiday shopping is trend-driven and last-minute. Consumers wait to learn what’s hot; then make their lists. This study suggests that they’re already discovering new products through the power of online reviews. That’s a game-changer.”

    According to the study, reviews on retailer websites, brand sites, and Facebook will impact customers’ choices more than reviews on other channels. It found that consumers trust these channels for computers, electronics, personal care items, children’s products, and apparel.

    “User-generated content, those testimonials, videos and reviews, are what is swaying consumers more than ever this year. Brands that focus on getting their messages out through their consumers, will win all along the path to purchase,” says Frech.

    The findings indicate that 18% find one online review to be enough to convince them to purchase as long as it is from a close friend, family member, or colleague. 23% say up to four from a variety of sources is enough to convince them.

    Facebook reviews are holding more sway than in previous years, and video reviews are gaining credibility among consumers. 6% say they use YouTube to learn about new products and brands. 49% say they use YouTube to gather information before making a purchase. Two-thirds use video reviews at least some of the time to help make a purchase decision.

    The source of the video matters though. Video reviews from YouTube reviewers and on Retail websites tied for influencing 64% while 50% have been influenced by a blogger videos.

    “While video reviews on YouTube certainly hold sway for consumers, it’s important to note that video on Facebook is gaining. I predict that by next holiday season year, we’ll see the balance of video reviewing tipping to Facebook,” said Frech.

    Interestingly, brand sponsored reviews are trusted, but the source is key.

    Facebook Insights (FBIQ) recently released some data on growth in engagement and purchase behavior via mobile devices. Long story short, mobile shopping is on the rise.

    Among the key findings:

    – From January to May 2015, 3 in 10 online purchases took place on mobile and the frequency of mobile purchases increased 35%

    – Over the course of the year, those purchasing on a mobile device steadily increased and in Q4, Facebook IQ predicts that the percentage of online purchasers who buy on mobile will grow 30%

    – 73% of people say mobile devices are always with them

    – 45% of all shopping journeys contain an action on mobile—everything from discovering to researching to buying (57% for Millennials)

    – In the year ahead, 64% of omni-channel shoppers anticipate doing more research on their smartphones and 61% expect to be using their smartphone more while in physical stores

    More on Facebook’s findings here.

    A new State of ecommerce benchmark report from Yotpo is making the rounds. According to that, social channels are only driving 6% of ecommerce traffic compared to Direct (40%), Search (34%), Referral (10%), Paid (5%), Email (3%) and Other (2%). It also shows, however, that social traffic is high quality with Instagram traffic leading for average time on site topping email, direct, and referral.

    Do you expect social media, reviews, and/or mobile to play a significant role in your holiday season success? Share your thoughts here.

  • Over Half Of Retailers Struggle To Identify Most Valuable Customers Despite Data

    Over Half Of Retailers Struggle To Identify Most Valuable Customers Despite Data

    Yes Lifecycle Marketing has a new study out finding that half of retailers are struggling to identify and and engage their most valuable customers, even though they know information like full names, phone numbers, and purchase histories.

    It also found that 42% claim their store associates know nothing about in-store customers, which the company says indicates that a lack of consumer knowledge expands to the brick-and-mortar experience in addition to the online world.

    “In the retail industry, personalization proves powerful,” a spokesperson for Yes Lifecycle Marketing tells WebProNews. “Brands can take personalization efforts further using clienteling, which help retailers build strong relationships with customers using data that indicates their preferences, behaviors and purchases. To differentiate their brand among the rest, retailers must take a clienteling approach, but many fail to do so.”

    “Clienteling leverages omnichannel customer data to create personalized customer experiences,” says Yes Lifecycle Marketing President Michael Fisher. “By utilizing clienteling best practices, retailers can drive more in-store traffic, engagement, sales and loyalty.”

    Other findings from the study include:

    – 13 percent of store associates currently have access to customer data to ensure a successful in-store customer experience.

    – 43 percent of retailers leverage social media for customer service.

    – 36 percent of employees use past purchase history to personalize their interactions with customers.

    – 35 percent of retailers send personalized messages and recommendations across channels.

    The company polled about 200 retailers for the study showing that concerns about utilizing available customer data are quite legitimate.

    You can find the full study here. Yes Lifecycle Marketing also has an e-book about clienteling available here.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • Nicole Scherzinger Reportedly Dating The “Male Version Of Her”

    Nicole Scherzinger is rumored to be dating a very popular musician, and according to a source, she says they’re so close because he’s “the male version of her”.

    Scherzinger, who broke up with Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton earlier this year, is reportedly dating Ed Sheeran, who is 13 years her junior. According to a source, the duo have been good friends for a long time and have been seeing a lot of each other lately.

    “As far as he’s concerned they were in the early stages of dating and he’s been open about it with close friends and colleagues. It may not develop beyond those dates but they’re definitely tight. They’re extremely close. Nicole says he is the male version of her,” the source said.

    Nicole and Lewis ended things in February, and she said that they made the decision together, but later reportedly decided that keeping things friendly wasn’t healthy for either of them.

    “Sometimes people stay in relationships because they get complacent, because it’s comfortable for them, because they don’t want to be alone,” Nicole later said. “For me, what’s helped me to get through this is I’m a quite spiritual person. It’s grounded me, and I realize that I do have a great purpose in life. If relationships or people in your lives are meant to be, then they will come back around, but that shouldn’t be what’s holding you back.”

    Scherzinger and Sheeran have not commented on the rumors; both have been busy working on their music careers. Nicole left X Factor UK last year in order to spend more time doing what she loves, and said she was sad to leave the show.

    “It breaks her heart, but Nicole is sad not to be able to go back to the show this year,” a source told The Sun. “She put her music career on hold last year but now she has to focus on her music.”

  • Nicky Hilton’s Wedding Dress Fail That Left Her Flashing Wedding Guests

    Nicky Hilton’s Wedding Dress Fail That Left Her Flashing Wedding Guests

    Nicky Hilton suffered a wedding dress fail of sorts Friday when her $77,000 couture Valentino wedding gown got caught in the wheel of her hired limo precisely when an inopportune gust of wind billowed out her dress, causing her to flash her wedding quests.

    Well, it’s not that bad considering Nicky Hilton is beautiful and her lacy underwear was no more revealing than a bathing suit would be, but one has to imagine that this is not exactly what the heiress to the Hilton fortune had in mind for her wedding day.

    Hilton was calm and collected despite the ‘slip ups’ that might have left a lesser-composed bride all a fluster.

    Apart from the minor mishap, the Nicky Hilton’s wedding to James Rothschild at Kensington Palace on Friday went off beautifully and without a hitch.

    Attending the elaborate wedding was Nicky’s sister Paris Hilton, who surprisingly, or not, took some time to pose for photographers and fans.

    Other famous celebrity wedding guests included Kate Beckinsale, Petra Ecclestone, and Chelsea Clinton.

    According to The Daily Mail, Nicky Hilton looked every bit an American princess in her Valentino wedding gown that featured a high-neck, a long train, long lace sleeves and a dramatic lace veil.

    People magazine reports that Nicky Hilton and her new husband James Rothschild partied late into the night following the regal wedding.

    The newly married couple didn’t return to equally posh hotel, Claridge’s, until the wee hours of the morning on Saturday.

    For the post-wedding festivities, Nicky Hilton changed out of the Valentino gown and into a sparkly, short dress.

    What do you think of Nicky Hilton’s mishap, the gown and the wedding?

  • Using Personalized Data Critical To Brand Loyalty

    As more consumer data is available to brands than ever before, you might think that brands would be able to capitalize on this, and know their customers better than they know themselves, and in turn inspire increased brand loyalty. You’d be wrong, however.

    Earlier, we looked at a new study from IBM and Econsultancy, which found that businesses think they know their customers pretty well, while consumers strongly disagree. Considering that consumers are the ones who get to make the call about whether or not to be loyal to a brand, that’s probably the side you should be listening to.

    “Researchers asked consumers if they had changed providers in the last 12 months,” explains IBM. “The question focused on several service areas known to be inherently sticky, including banking, mobile, internet and satellite/cable. 49 percent of consumers said they changed service providers in the last 12 months with experience-related factors playing a prominent role.”

    30%, it found, switched because of provider failure, while 51% cited customer experience as the number one factor. 59% switched because the new company offered something better, with 42% referring to the actual products as the top factor, followed by experience at 29%.

    “The customer is in control but this is not the threat many marketers perceive it to be. It’s an opportunity to engage and serve the customer’s needs like never before,” said Deepak Advani, General Manager at IBM Commerce. “By increasing investments in marketing innovations, teams can examine consumers at unimaginable depths including specific behavior patterns from one channel to the next. With this level of insight brands can become of customer’s trusted partner rather than an unwanted intrusion.”

    Loyalty360, the loyalty marketers’ association, just shared some comments from Tom Santora, chief marketing officer at Omni Hotels & Resorts.

    “Brand personalization has never been more vital than it is today to capture and maintain brand loyalty,” he told them. “Omni has been rooted in personalization/customization way before the days of Big Data. We are in the business of creating memorable experiences for our guests–and with that, personalization was a key driver of that for us. Ten or 15 years ago, this was done at the property level, through guest interactions, and some through follow-up email surveys, etc. Take for example, a bellman, who will ask guests what they’re up to today, and then ask them about it upon return–that is personalization.”

    “Brands have access to more data about their customers than ever before,” he is quoted as saying. “Along with that comes the opportunity to personalize and therefore maximize the brand experience of our guests– both online and in-hotel–so that they will return and develop longer-term loyalty. Now we can help personalize a stay based on information collected from a variety of sources. A few off the top of my head at Omni include: Medallia scores, Trip Advisor feedback, social channel monitoring and responses, and a customizable program for Select Guest loyalty members.”

    He went on to talk about a system the company has developed for its loyalty program in which members themselves build and customize their stays.

    Last week, Bond Brand Loyalty released some findings from a survey, which found that a third of consumers agree they would not be loyal to a brand if it were not for a loyalty program. 70% of consumers were found to be a top contributor to brand loyalty, which ranked higher than factors like product and service availability, brand communications, and even overall price, according to the firm, which polled 10,000 consumers on loyalty initiatives across the retail, consumer packaged goods, financial services, entertainment, and dining industries.

    “Brands with established loyalty programs now must make the shift to the future of loyalty and an experience-based model that is consistent with the overall brand,” said Bond Brand Loyalty CEO Bob Macdonald. “It’s more important than ever that companies focus on their best customers, and their data, to design a more personalized and authentic experience, which can help build stronger, more meaningful bonds with customers.”

    You can find that full report here.

    Related: Study Looks At Top Brands For Customer Loyalty

  • Shopping Cart Abandonment Still A Major Issue For Businesses

    Shopping Cart Abandonment Still A Major Issue For Businesses

    Shopping cart abandonment has plagued ecommerce businesses for years, and you might think that things would have gotten better as more people have grown accustomed to shopping online, technologies have improved, and a vast array of solutions have become available. However, things have only gotten worse, and shoppers have gotten choosier about their shopping habits.

    Do you consider shopping cart abandonment to be one of the biggest obstacles your online business faces? Let us know in the comments.

    Baymard.com recently calculated the average documented online shopping cart abandonment rate based on 29 different studies containing statistics on e-commerce shopping cart abandonment. The study with the lowest rate (55%) was from Forrester and Shop.org in 2010. The one with the highest (80.3%) was from Rejoiner in 2012. The average from all of them was 68.07%. That’s still pretty high.

    One of the top reasons that people abandon their shopping carts is that shipping costs are too high. Last fall, UPS and comScore partnered on a study, which found that as many as 81% of online shoppers in the U.S. indicated free shipping played a major role in their experience. 9 out of ten shoppers said they abandon shopping carts, while 6 out of 10 said they’ve done so after finding out that shipping costs made the price higher than expected. Half said they abandoned carts because their order value wasn’t large enough to qualify for free shipping.

    Other reasons included people not being ready to purchase, but wanting to save the cart for later or wanting to get an idea of the cost for comparison, getting distracted and forgetting to complete a purchase, and preferred payment options not being offered. eMarketer put together this chart looking at these reasons across different regions based on the study:

    They also note research from Visual Website Optimizer, which found unexpected shipping costs to be the most common reason for abandonment in the U.S. and a poll from the e-tailing group, in which 64% cited high shipping costs.

    Nextopia recently put out this infographic looking at shoping cart abandonment based on information from Shopify, Econsultancy, and CPCStrategy.

    Last month, Business Insider put out a report looking at shopping cart abandonment, and finding that as much as $4 trillion worth of merchandise will be abandoned in online shopping carts this year, but that as much as 63% of that is potentially recoverable by “savvy online retailers”.

    “An abandoned shopping cart does not automatically translate to a ‘lost sale,’ because three-fourths of shoppers who have abandoned shopping carts say they plan to return to the retailer’s website or store to make a purchase, according to data from SeeWhy,” says Cooper Smith, a senior analyst for BI Intelligence. “Online-only retailers are at a disadvantage to “omnichannel” retailers in this respect because they have fewer channels through which to recover lost sales.”

    “Retailers can reduce the rate of abandonment and increase conversions by streamlining the checkout process and also by retargeting shoppers with emails after they’ve left a website,” he adds. “Initial emails, sent three hours after a consumer abandons a cart, average a 40% open rate and a 20% click-through rate, according to Listrak.”

    The BI study also found that that the number one reason people abandoned shopping carts in 2014 was because shipping costs were more than expected.

    “Another way of bringing your visitors back to the site is with retargeting ads,” writes Heidi Pungartnik at DesignForFounders. “Amazon does a great job with those — have you ever browsed for a, say, bento box only to end up only seeing ads for different bento boxes all over the web?”

    She also points to a Compete study, which found that in addition to improving cart abandonment rates, 93% of shoppers buy more when it’s offered.

    Shipping costs are only one issue. The rise of mobile use is not helping shopping cart abandonment. 84% of mobile uses use their devices for shopping, according to Nielsen, but that doesn’t mean shopping sites are catering to these users as well as they should be.

    As you may know, Google is getting ready to implement a mobile-friendly ranking signal to its mobile search results, lighting a fire under sites to get their acts together. This could help in the shopping cart abandonment department as well, as a mobile-friendly checkout process should lead to more conversions.

    As it tries to get sites using Google Wallet, the company says, “Typically, mobile shoppers have to fill out up to 25 fields to checkout. It’s no wonder up to 97% of them abandon their shopping carts.”

    Have you been able to improve your shopping cart abandonment rate or is it getting worse as time goes on? Discuss.

  • Percentage Of B2B Commerce Happening Online On The Rise

    Percentage Of B2B Commerce Happening Online On The Rise

    B2B e-commerce in the United States is projected to reach $1.13 trillion by 2020, according to Forrester, which just released its new report US B2B eCommerce Forecast: 2015 to 2020. That’s up from $780 billion this year, according to the firm.

    In 2020 B2B e-commerce will constitute 12.1% of the total $9.39 trillion US B2B commerce market, it says. Forrester analyst Andy Hoar sums up some of the report’s key points in a blog post.

    Changes to B2B buyer preferences. Today, 74% of B2B buyers research at least one-half of their work purchases online. In addition, 30% of today’s B2B buyers complete at least half of their work purchases online. With that percentage nearly doubling to 56% by 2017, B2B sellers will see a significant volume of offline business move online in the next few years.

    The opportunity for B2B firms to reduce the cost to serve customers. B2B companies report cutting their cost to serve dramatically by migrating customers online. In addition, in a 2013 Forrester survey, 56% of B2B eCommerce executives said that they have certain customers that they can only profitably support online.

    The value of building loyal multichannel B2B customers. Omnichannel customers spend more than single-channel, offline-only customers. For example, 60% of B2B companies report that their B2B buyers spend more overall when those customers interact with multiple channels. Omnichannel B2B customers are also more likely to become repeat and long-term customers.

    B2B e-commerce is growing rapidly in other parts of the world as well.

    B2B e-commerce from Chinese SMEs jumped by 30% in 2014, according to recent data from iResearch data.

    Citing data from B2B-Center, Pymnts.com reports that online corporate and government purchases “ballooned by 40 percent” in the first nine months of last year compared with the same period of the prior year.

    IndianRetailer.com recently looked at a Walmart report projecting that India’s B2B e-commerce industry will grow to $700 billion by 2020 from $300 billion.

  • eBay Enterprise Hits New Sales Milestone

    eBay Enterprise Hits New Sales Milestone

    eBay announced that eBay Enterprise clients have hit the $1 billion sales milestone. This is across over 6,500 stores, 42 brands, and three continents.

    eBay merged Magento with eBay Enterprise just over a year ago. They’re showcasing their solutions at the National Retail Federation Big Show in New York City this week.

    eBay Enterprise counts Ace Hardware, Shoe Carnival, Destination XL, and Designer SHoe Warehouse among clients who have successfully deployed its store fulfillment solutions.

    The company says, “Store fulfillment is also a growing trend outside of the U.S. For example, international retailers Tiger of Sweden and Peak Performance among others have increased the number of stores enabled with Ship-from Store by 47 percent and order volume increased by 108 percent over 2013 volumes.”

    eBay Enterprise offers a cloud-based “ship-from store” feature that includes full inventory visibility, and allows retailers to offer physical store inventory alongside warehouse inventory.

    “Store fulfillment solutions like Ship-from Store and In-Store Pickup give online consumers access to inventory across stores, distribution centers, and even suppliers to deliver goods at the best possible speed and cost while preserving the best possible margin for brands and retailers – boosting sales, enhancing the consumer experience and improving customer retention rates,” said eBay Enterprise President Craig Hayman. “Adopting omnichannel strategies like this will be critical for retailers in 2015.”

    eBay says clients saw significant benefits from its Store Fulfillment solutions throughout the holiday season with year-over-year order volume via ship-from store and in-store pickup up 34% and sales up 54% from Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday in the U.S.

    Image via eBay

  • eBay Earnings Released, Revenue Up 12%

    eBay Earnings Released, Revenue Up 12%

    eBay released its earnings report for the third quarter with revenue growth of 12%. Payments volume was up 29% while eBay Marketplaces volume growth was 9%.

    As you probably know, eBay and PayPal are splitting up next year.

    eBay CEO John Donahoe said, “Rapidly changing competitive environments in commerce and payments underscore the opportunities for eBay and PayPal, and highlight how each business will benefit from the focus and agility of being an independent company. PayPal had another strong quarter, and its mobile payments leadership and momentum continued with mobile volume up 72 percent to $12 billion. PayPal is on track to process 1 billion mobile transactions in 2014.”

    “And eBay continues to focus on enhancing its competitive position, improving the experience for buyers and sellers and investing in consumer engagement,” he added. “As we prepare to separate eBay and PayPal in 2015, our teams are focused on strong execution to ensure each business is set up for long-term success.”

    eBay Enterprise gross merchandise sales grew 14% with revenue reaching $259 million.

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    SAN JOSE, Calif.–()–Global commerce platform and payments leader eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) today reported that revenue for the third quarter ended September 30, 2014 increased 12% to $4.4 billion, compared to the same period in 2013. GAAP earnings of $673 million or $0.54 per diluted share, and Non-GAAP earnings of $848 million or $0.68 per diluted share, were driven by accelerating enabled commerce volume growth and double-digit revenue growth.

    “Rapidly changing competitive environments in commerce and payments underscore the opportunities for eBay and PayPal, and highlight how each business will benefit from the focus and agility of being an independent company”

    eBay Inc.’s enabled commerce volume (ECV) increased 27% in the third quarter to $63 billion. Mobile ECV advanced 67% to $14 billion representing 21% of volume. eBay Inc. mobile downloads since inception exceeded 282 million, attracting 7.3 million new customers in the quarter. Cross-border trade grew 27%, representing $14 billion, or 22%, of total company ECV.

    “Rapidly changing competitive environments in commerce and payments underscore the opportunities for eBay and PayPal, and highlight how each business will benefit from the focus and agility of being an independent company,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “PayPal had another strong quarter, and its mobile payments leadership and momentum continued with mobile volume up 72 percent to $12 billion. PayPal is on track to process 1 billion mobile transactions in 2014. And eBay continues to focus on enhancing its competitive position, improving the experience for buyers and sellers and investing in consumer engagement. As we prepare to separate eBay and PayPal in 2015, our teams are focused on strong execution to ensure each business is set up for long-term success.”

    PayPal net total payment volume (TPV) grew 29% with Merchant Services volume up 37% and on-eBay volume up 9%. Revenue grew to $2.0 billion. PayPal gained 4.4 million new active registered accounts to end the quarter at 157 million, up 14%. Global on-eBay penetration increased to 80.5%. Mobile payment volume grew 72% to $12 billion, representing 20% of TPV. Active accounts acquired on mobile were 2.9 million. Newly rebranded PayPal Credit grew 29%. PayPal also rolled out new product innovations like its One Touch offering making it simpler and easier to check-out and pay with PayPal.

    eBay Marketplaces gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 9%, with the U.S. up 7% and international up 11%. Revenue grew to $2.2 billion. Marketplaces gained 3.4 million new buyers to end the quarter with 152 million active buyers, up 13%. The selection of items available on Marketplaces grew to over 800 million listings, including both platform and non-platform offerings, reflecting the success of improved selling initiatives, particularly on mobile. Marketplaces mobile volume grew 41% to $7 billion. Fixed price sales grew 15% and now represent 79% of the total sales on the platform.

    eBay Enterprise gross merchandise sales (GMS) grew 14%. Revenue grew to $259 million. Enterprise enabled its clients to grow same-store sales 13%.

    Third Quarter 2014 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)
    Third Quarter
    2014 2013 Change
    eBay Inc.
    Net revenue $4,353 $3,892 $461 12%
    Enabled commerce volume (ECV) $63,056 $49,727 $13,329 27%
    GAAP
    Net income $673 $689 $(16) (2%)
    Earnings per diluted share $0.54 $0.53 $0.01 2%
    Non-GAAP
    Net income $848 $837 $11 1%
    Earnings per diluted share $0.68 $0.64 $0.04 6%
    Business Units
    Payments
    Net revenue $1,950 $1,620 $330 20%
    Net total payment volume (TPV) $56,576 $43,837 $12,739 29%
    Marketplaces
    Net revenue $2,156 $2,027 $129 6%
    Gross merchandise volume (GMV) $20,075 $18,345 $1,730 9%
    Enterprise
    Net revenue $259 $252 $7 3%
    Gross merchandise sales (GMS) $900 $787 $113 14%

    Other Selected Financial and Operational Results

    • Operating margin — GAAP operating margin decreased to 17.9% for the third quarter of 2014, compared to 20.5% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 23.7% in the third quarter, compared to 26.8% for the same period last year.
    • Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the third quarter of 2014 was 15.9%, compared to 21.1% for the third quarter of 2013. For the third quarter of 2014 and 2013, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 19.2% for both periods.
    • Cash flow — The company generated $1.4 billion of operating cash flow and $0.9 billion of free cash flow during the third quarter of 2014.
    • Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $15.1 billion at September 30, 2014, up from $12.8 billion at December 31, 2013.

    Business Outlook

    • Fourth quarter 2014 — The company expects net revenues in the range of $4,850 – $4,950 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.73 – $0.76 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.88 – $0.91.
    • Full year 2014 — The company is reducing full year revenue guidance to $17.85 – $17.95 billion.

    Quarterly Conference Call and Webcast

    eBay Inc. will host a conference call to discuss third quarter 2014 results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website athttp://investor.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.

    eBay Inc. uses its Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls and webcasts.

    About eBay Inc.

    eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce and payments leader, providing a robust platform where merchants of all sizes can compete and win. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. connects millions of buyers and sellers and enabled $205 billion* of commerce volume in 2013. We do so through eBay, one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive digital payments; and through eBay Enterprise, which enables omnichannel commerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises in the U.S. and internationally. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

    * This adjusted number reflects decision to remove vehicles and real estate GMV from ongoing total GMV and ECV metrics (previously stated ECV for 2013 was $212 billion, incorporating vehicles and real estate GMV).

    Presentation

    All growth rates represent year over year comparisons, except as otherwise noted. All amounts in tables are presented in U.S. dollars, rounded to the nearest millions, except as otherwise noted. As a result, certain amounts may not sum or recalculate using the rounded dollar amounts provided.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate and free cash flow. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures, see “Business Outlook,” “Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate” and “Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow” included in this press release.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the planned separation of eBay Inc.’s Marketplaces and PayPal businesses and the future performance of eBay Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries that are based on the company’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the completion and timing of any such separation, the future performance of the Marketplaces and Payments businesses on a standalone business if the separation is completed, expected financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2014, the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and Enterprise businesses, mobile payments and mobile commerce. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. There is no assurance as to the timing of the spin-off or whether it will be completed. Other factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: whether the operational, marketing and strategic benefits of the separation can be achieved; whether the costs and expenses of the separation can be controlled within expectations; changes in political, business and economic conditions, any European, Asian or general economic downturn or crisis and any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s need to successfully react to the increasing importance of mobile payments and mobile commerce and the increasing social aspect of commerce; the company’s ability to deal with the increasingly competitive ecommerce environment, including competition for its sellers from other trading sites and other means of selling, and competition for its buyers from other merchants, online and offline; changes to the company’s capital allocation or management of operating cash; the company’s need to manage an increasingly large enterprise with a broad range of businesses of varying degrees of maturity and in many different geographies; the effect of management changes and business initiatives; the company’s need and ability to manage other regulatory, tax and litigation risks as its services are offered in more jurisdictions and applicable laws become more restrictive; any changes the company may make to its product offerings; the competitive, regulatory, payment card association-related and other risks specific to PayPal and PayPal Credit (formerly Bill Me Later), especially as PayPal continues to expand geographically and introduce new products and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its technology systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities at reasonable cost; the company’s ability to maintain site stability and performance on all of its sites while adding new products and features in a timely fashion; and the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired or may be acquired in the future. The forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.

    More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. All information in this release is as of October 15, 2014. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. The company assumes no obligation to update such statements.

    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
    September 30,
    2014    		 December 31,
    2013
    (In millions)
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 4,790 $ 4,494
    Short-term investments 5,601 4,531
    Accounts receivable, net 755 899
    Loans and interest receivable, net 3,162 2,789
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 9,962 9,260
    Other current assets 1,384 1,310
    Total current assets 25,654 23,283
    Long-term investments 5,875 4,971
    Property and equipment, net 2,825 2,760
    Goodwill 9,220 9,267
    Intangible assets, net 642 941
    Other assets 260 266
    Total assets $ 44,476 $ 41,488
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Short-term debt $ 250 $ 6
    Accounts payable 339 309
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers 9,962 9,260
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 5,617 2,799
    Deferred revenue 185 158
    Income taxes payable 138 107
    Total current liabilities 16,491 12,639
    Deferred and other tax liabilities, net 709 841
    Long-term debt 7,346 4,117
    Other liabilities 120 244
    Total liabilities 24,666 17,841
    Total stockholders’ equity 19,810 23,647
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 44,476 $ 41,488
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income
      Three Months EndedSeptember 30, Nine Months EndedSeptember 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    Net revenues $ 4,353 $ 3,892 $ 12,981 $ 11,517
    Cost of net revenues (1) 1,389 1,224 4,132 3,587
    Gross profit 2,964 2,668 8,849 7,930
    Operating expenses:
    Sales and marketing (1) 923 755 2,642 2,223
    Product development (1) 511 433 1,491 1,318
    General and administrative (1) 442 415 1,368 1,242
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 249 185 685 553
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 58 81 210 245
    Total operating expenses 2,183 1,869 6,396 5,581
    Income from operations 781 799 2,453 2,349
    Interest and other, net 20 74 24 89
    Income before income taxes 801 873 2,477 2,438
    Provision for income taxes (128 ) (184 ) (3,454 ) (432 )
    Net income (loss) $ 673 $ 689 $ (977 ) $ 2,006
    Net income (loss) per share:
    Basic $ 0.54 $ 0.53 $ (0.78 ) $ 1.55
    Diluted $ 0.54 $ 0.53 $ (0.78 ) $ 1.53
    Weighted average shares:
    Basic 1,242 1,295 1,258 1,296
    Diluted 1,251 1,310 1,258 1,314
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Cost of net revenues $ 19 $ 9 $ 56 $ 45
    Sales and marketing 46 38 133 112
    Product development 57 42 167 120
    General and administrative 51 51 132 135
    $ 173 $ 140 $ 488 $ 412
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
    Three Months EndedSeptember 30, Nine Months EndedSeptember 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    (In millions)
    Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net income (loss) $ 673 $ 689 $ (977 ) $ 2,006
    Adjustments:
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 249 185 685 553
    Depreciation and amortization 365 357 1,120 1,033
    Stock-based compensation 173 140 488 412
    Gain on sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner — (75 ) — (75 )
    Deferred income taxes (64 ) (89 ) 2,996 258
    Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition effects (28 ) 127 (276 ) (905 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 1,368 1,334 4,036 3,282
    Cash flows from investing activities:
    Purchases of property and equipment (427 ) (317 ) (902 ) (969 )
    Changes in principal loans receivable, net (261 ) (212 ) (493 ) (395 )
    Purchases of investments (3,238 ) (3,702 ) (6,879 ) (5,726 )
    Maturities and sales of investments 1,330 912 4,594 2,710
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (20 ) (70 ) (59 ) (85 )
    Repayment of Kynetic note receivable and sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner — 485 — 485
    Other — — (6 ) (14 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (2,616 ) (2,904 ) (3,745 ) (3,994 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock 24 57 178 301
    Repurchases of common stock (8 ) (146 ) (3,476 ) (1,088 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 4 19 90 180
    Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of restricted stock units and awards (14 ) (21 ) (224 ) (247 )
    Proceeds from issuance of debt 3,482 — 3,482 —
    Net borrowings under commercial paper program (1,200 ) — — —
    Funds receivable and customer accounts, net 75 (61 ) (702 ) (979 )
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers, net (75 ) 61 702 979
    Other (7 ) — (7 ) —
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities 2,281 (91 ) 43 (854 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents (77 ) 86 (38 ) 29
    Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents 956 (1,575 ) 296 (1,537 )
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 3,834 6,855 4,494 6,817
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 4,790 $ 5,280 $ 4,790 $ 5,280
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Summary of Consolidated Net Revenues
    Net Revenues by Type (1) Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    Net transaction revenues (In millions, except percentages)
    Marketplaces $ 1,707 $ 1,722 $ 1,727 $ 1,828 $ 1,609
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (1 )% — % (6 )% 14  % 2  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 6  % 9 % 11 % 13  % 13  %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 57  % 58 % 58 % 57  % 55  %
    Payments 1,783 1,741 1,700 1,693 1,493
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2  % 2 % — % 13  % 1  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 19  % 18 % 19 % 18  % 18 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 56  % 56 % 56 % 57  % 56  %
    Enterprise 199 207 208 333 185
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (4 )% — % (38 )% 80  % (5 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 8  % 7 % 12 % —  % 9  %
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international 4  % 4 % 4 % 3  % 4  %
    Total net transaction revenues 3,689 3,670 3,635 3,854 3,287
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 1  % 1 % (6 )% 17  % 1  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12  % 13 % 14 % 14  % 15  %
    Marketing services and other revenues
    Marketplaces 449 452 428 471 418
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (1 )% 6 % (9 )% 13  % (1 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 7  % 7 % 6 % 8  % 10  %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 70  % 72 % 71 % 69  % 70  %
    Payments 167 205 145 143 127
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (19 )% 41 % 1 % 13  % (15 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 31  % 38 % 27 % 31  % 25  %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 4  % 3 % 3 % 4  % 3  %
    Enterprise 60 60 61 74 67
    Current quarter vs prior quarter —  % (2 )% (17 )% 11  % 2  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter (10 )% (9 )% (1 )% (3 )% (1 )%
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international —  % — % — % —  % —  %
    Total marketing services and other revenues 676 717 634 688 612
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (6 )% 13 % (8 )% 12  % (4 )%
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 10  % 12 % 10 % 11  % 11  %
    Elimination of inter-segment net revenue (2) (12 ) (21 ) (7 ) (12 ) $ (7 )
    Total net revenues $ 4,353 $ 4,366 $ 4,262 $ 4,530 $ 3,892
    Current quarter vs prior quarter —  % 2 % (6 )% 16  % —  %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12  % 13 % 14 % 13  % 14  %
    (1) During the first quarter of 2014, we changed our reportable segments based on changes in our organizational structure which reflect the integration of our Magento platform into our Enterprise segment. Prior to this change, Magento was reported in corporate and other. Also during the quarter, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we reclassified our Marketplaces vehicles and real estate revenues from net transaction revenues to marketing services and other revenues. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.
    (2) Represents revenue generated between our reportable segments.
    Net Revenues by Geography (1) Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    U.S. net revenues $ 2,050 $ 2,047 $ 1,998 $ 2,180 $ 1,873
    Current quarter vs prior quarter — % 2 % (8 )% 16 % — %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 9 % 9 % 12 % 11 % 14 %
    Percent of total 47 % 47 % 47 % 48 % 48 %
    International net revenues 2,303 2,319 2,264 2,350 2,019
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (1 )% 2 % (4 )% 16 % 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 16 % 16 % 16 % 15 %
    Percent of total 53 % 53 % 53 % 52 % 52 %
    Total net revenues $ 4,353 $ 4,366 $ 4,262 $ 4,530 $ 3,892
    Current quarter vs prior quarter — % 2 % (6 )% 16 % — %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12 % 13 % 14 % 13 % 14 %
    (1) Revenues are attributed to U.S. and international geographies primarily based upon the country in which the seller, payment recipient, customer, website that displays advertising, or other service provider, as the case may be, is located.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited eBay Inc. Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    ECV (1) $63,056 $61,639 $58,495 $59,607 $49,727
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % 5 % (2 %) 20 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 27 % 26 % 24 % 23 % 23 %

    During the first quarter of 2014, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we correspondingly excluded vehicles and real estate gross merchandise volume from our total gross merchandise volume. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.

    (1) Includes Marketplaces GMV (excluding vehicles and real estate), Payments Merchant Services Net TPV and eBay Enterprise Gross Merchandise Sales not earned on eBay or paid for via PayPal or PayPal Credit (formerly Bill Me Later) during the period; excludes volume transacted through the Magento platform. PayPal Merchant Services Net TPV is the total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Venmo, and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period, excludes PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses and payments for transactions on our Marketplaces platforms.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Payments Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active registered accounts (1) 156.9 152.5 148.4 142.6 137.4
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 3 % 4 % 4 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 15 % 16 % 16 % 17 %
    Net number of payments (2) 894.6 850.2 834.4 846.1 729.4
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 5 % 2 % (1 )% 16 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 23 % 21 % 22 % 22 % 24 %
    Net total payment volume (3) $56,576 $55,046 $52,006 $51,973 $43,837
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 6 % — % 19 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 29 % 27 % 25 % 25 %
    On eBay net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 25 % 27 % 29 % 29 % 30 %
    Merchant Services net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 75 % 73 % 71 % 71 % 70 %
    Take rate (4) 3.45 % 3.53 % 3.55 % 3.53 % 3.70 %
    Transaction rates (5)
    Expense rate 0.95 % 0.95 % 0.99 % 0.97 % 1.05 %
    Loss rate 0.33 % 0.28 % 0.27 % 0.32 % 0.30 %
    Margin rate 62.8 % 65.1 % 64.6 % 63.5 % 63.4 %
    Loan portfolio rates
    Risk adjusted margin (6) 16.8 % 16.6 % 16.2 % 15.8 % 16.1 %
    Net charge-off rate (7) 5.3 % 5.5 % 5.4 % 6.3 % 5.5 %
    90-day delinquency rate (8) 3.3 % 2.7 % 2.8 % 2.9 % 3.2 %
    (1) All registered accounts that successfully sent or received at least one payment or payment reversal through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit and Venmo, but excluding users of Braintree’s unbranded payment checkout solutions, within the last 12 months and which are currently able to transact.
    (2) Total number of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Venmo and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period; excludes payments sent or received through PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses.
    (3) Total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Venmo, and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period; excludes payments sent or received through PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses.
    (4) Take Rate reflects total net revenues earned through our payments networks, including PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, PayPal’s payment gateway business, subscription fees and other net revenues, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    (5) Expense Rate reflects third party payment processing expenses and other related service costs, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    Loss Rate reflects expense associated with our customer protection programs, fraud, chargebacks and merchant credit losses, bad debt expense associated with our accounts receivable balances and loan reserves associated with our loan receivables balances, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    Margin Rate reflects Take Rate less Expense Rate and Loss Rate, divided by Take Rate.
    (6) The risk adjusted margin represents annualized credit portfolio revenue, excluding contra-revenue incentives to customers or merchants, less cost of funds and less net credit and fraud losses during the period, divided by average loan receivables for the period.
    (7) Net charge-off rate is the annualized ratio of net credit losses over the average daily loan receivables balance during the period. Net credit losses are the principal loan losses, exclusive of interest and late fee write offs, less recoveries of previously charged off balances.
    (8) 90-day delinquency rate is the end of period PayPal Credit account balances that have missed three or more consecutive payments, divided by total ending loan receivables.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Marketplaces Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active Buyers (1) 152.3 148.9 145.1 140.3 134.9
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2  % 3 % 3 % 4 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 13  % 14 % 14 % 14 % 13 %
    Gross Merchandise Volume (2) $20,075 $20,485 $20,545 $21,503 $18,345
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (2 )% — % (4 )% 17 % — %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 9  % 12 % 12 % 13 % 13 %
    U.S. GMV as % of total GMV 39  % 39 % 40 % 39 % 40 %
    International GMV as % of total GMV 61  % 61 % 60 % 61 % 60 %

    eBay’s classifieds web sites, brands4friends and Shopping.com are not included in these metrics.

    During the first quarter of 2014, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we reclassified our Marketplaces vehicle and real estate revenue from net transaction revenues to marketing services and other revenues. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.

    (1) All buyers (including buyers of Half.com, StubHub, GittiGidiyor, and our Korean subsidiary) who successfully closed a transaction within the previous 12-month period. Buyers may register more than once, and as a result, may have more than one account.
    (2) Total value of all successfully closed transactions between users on Marketplaces platforms during the period regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction; excludes vehicles and real estate gross merchandise volume.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Enterprise Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30,
    2014 2014 2014 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Gross Merchandise Sales (1) $900 $940 $936 $1,771 $787
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (4 %) — % (47 %) 125 % (3 %)
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 15 % 16 % 11 % 13 %
    (1) Represents the retail value of all sales transactions, inclusive of freight charges and net of allowance for returns and discounts, which flow through our Enterprise commerce technologies, whether we record the full amount of such transaction as a product sale or a percentage of such transaction as a service fee; excludes volume transacted through the Magento platform.

    eBay Inc.
    Business Outlook
    (In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)

    The guidance figures provided below and elsewhere in this press release are forward-looking statements, reflect a number of estimates, assumptions and other uncertainties, and are approximate in nature because the company’s future performance is difficult to predict. Such guidance is based on information available on the date of this press release, and the company assumes no obligation to update it.

    The company’s future performance involves risks and uncertainties, and the company’s actual results could differ materially from the information below and elsewhere in this press release. Some of the factors that could affect the company’s operating results are set forth under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” above in this press release. More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s investor relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

    Three Months Ending
    December 31, 2014
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (a)
    Net Revenue $4,850 – $4,950 $4,850 – $4,950
    Diluted EPS $0.73 – $0.76 $0.88 – $0.91
    (a) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the three months ending December 31, 2014, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $70 – $80 million and estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $170 – $180 million as well as the related tax impact.

    eBay Inc.
    Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance

    To supplement the company’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, the company uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate, and free cash flow.

    These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with the company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate the company’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.

    Reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure of all non-GAAP measures included in this press release can be found in the tables included in this press release.

    These non-GAAP measures are provided to enhance investors’ overall understanding of the company’s current financial performance and its prospects for the future. Specifically, the company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains and losses or net purchases of property and equipment, as the case may be, that may not be indicative of its core operating results and business outlook. In addition, because the company has historically reported certain non-GAAP results to investors, the company believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures provides consistency in the company’s financial reporting.

    For its internal budgeting process, and as discussed further below, the company’s management uses financial measures that do not include stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation, amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses from the disposal/acquisition of a business, certain gains and losses on investments, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, the company’s management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of the company.

    The company excludes the following items from non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP effective tax rate:

    Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. The company excludes stock-based compensation expense from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. The related employer payroll taxes is dependent on the company’s stock price and the timing and size of exercises by employees of their stock options and the vesting of their restricted stock, over which management has limited to no control, and as such management does not believe it correlates to the company’s operation of the business.

    Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and certain gains or losses on investments. The company incurs amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets and goodwill in connection with acquisitions and may incur significant gains or losses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and therefore excludes these amounts from its non-GAAP measures. The company also excludes certain gains and losses on investments. The company excludes the impact of the accretion of a note receivable associated with the disposal of certain businesses. The company excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of the company’s business.

    Restructuring. These charges consist of expenses for employee severance and other exit and disposal costs. The company excludes significant restructuring charges primarily because management does not believe they are reflective of ongoing operating results.

    Other certain significant gains, losses, or charges that are not indicative of the Company’s core operating results. These are significant gains, losses, or charges during a period that are the result of isolated events or transactions which have not occurred frequently in the past and are not expected to occur regularly or be repeated in the future. The company excludes these amounts from its results primarily because management does not believe they are indicative of its current or ongoing operating results.

    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments. This amount is used to present stock-based compensation and the other amounts described above on an after-tax basis consistent with the presentation of non-GAAP net income.

    In addition to the non-GAAP measures discussed above, the company also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less purchases of property and equipment. The company considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business after the purchases of property, buildings, and equipment, which can then be used to, among other things, invest in the company’s business, make strategic acquisitions, and repurchase stock. A limitation of the utility of free cash flow as a measure of financial performance is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in the company’s cash balance for the period.

    eBay Inc.
    Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    GAAP operating income $ 781 $ 799
    Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes 173 141
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 20 19
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 58 81
    Total non-GAAP operating income adjustments 251 241
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 1,032 $ 1,040
    Non-GAAP operating margin 23.7 % 26.8 %
    Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and
    GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    GAAP income before income taxes $ 801 $ 873
    GAAP provision for income taxes (128 ) (184 )
    GAAP net income $ 673 $ 689
    Non-GAAP adjustments to net income:
    Non-GAAP operating income adjustments (see table above) 251 241
    Accretion of note receivable — (5 )
    Amortization of intangibles of investments 1 2
    Gain on sale of RueLaLa and ShopRunner — (75 )
    Other (3 ) —
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments (74 ) (15 )
    Non-GAAP net income $ 848 $ 837
    Diluted net income per share:
    GAAP $ 0.54 $ 0.53
    Non-GAAP $ 0.68 $ 0.64
    Shares used in GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net income per-share calculation 1,251 1,310
    GAAP effective tax rate 16  % 21  %
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments to net income 3  % (2 )%
    Non-GAAP effective tax rate 19  % 19  %
    Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow
    Three Months Ended
    September 30, September 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions)
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 1,368 $ 1,334
    Less: Purchases of property and equipment (427 ) (317 )
    Free cash flow $ 941 $ 1,017

     

    Image via eBay

  • Kenshoo Partners With Atlas For Search Marketing Reporting

    Kenshoo Partners With Atlas For Search Marketing Reporting

    With Advertising Week here there is a lot of ad news coming out, but the biggest piece is that Facebook announced the launch of the new Atlas.

    In its announcement, Facebook named Omnicom as an agency-wide ad serving and measurement partner. Kenshoo just announced a partnership with Atlas as well. It will provide marketers with reporting and optimization for search campaigns by combining Atlas’ tracking with its own campaign management tools. Deduped campaign performance data from Atlas will be automatically imported into Kenshoo Search.

    “Kenshoo’s industry-leading software was designed to deliver infinite optimization by leveraging insights from each channel to inform the next,” said Will Martin-Gill, SVP of Product for Kenshoo. “Partnering with Atlas to provide clients access to highly accurate, deduplicated data saves them time and improves the efficiency of their campaign optimization within Kenshoo.”

    “Forecasting, budgeting, portfolio optimization, and campaign automation are hallmarks of Kenshoo’s best-in-class predictive marketing software; combining these with Atlas delivers the industry’s most accurate cross-channel reporting and optimization solution by relying on one source of truth that accounts for how consumers move across channels,” he added.

    Kenshoo is a Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD), and put out a study a few months ago about the effects of Facebook Ads on paid search performance.

    At Atlas product tour is available here. Here’s more on Kenshoo’s integration.

    Image via Facebook

  • Zayn Malik: One Direction Singer Gets Advice from Russell Brand

    Zayn Malik–One Direction singer and young hunk extraordinaire–had the opportunity to meet actor and comedian Russell Brand a couple of years back. Zayn shares some of that unusual meeting in the band’s new autobiography, Who We Are. It seems Russell Brand actually offered the 1D singer some birth control advice.

    According to a report from Billboard, Zayn Malik was a bit taken aback by the conversation.

    “Backstage at the Olympics was one of the maddest times I’ve had with the band,” Zayn says in the book. “These crazily famous people were coming up and talking to me. All my life I’d seen them on TV and here they were just chatting away to us.”

    Malik then recalls how Brand, who was also performing in the closing ceremony, came over to him. “Russell was brilliant. He was saying, ‘Your performance was sick.’ Then he started giving me family planning advice! I was like, ‘Russell, you shouldn’t be giving me that sort of advice!’ He was hilarious, a really nice guy.”

    Not many people can say Russell Brand gave them birth control advice–right? Of course not many people would want any kind of advice from the funny man. At least Zayn Malik can catalogue the conversation as among the more unusual he’s likely ever had.

    One Direction’s new book Who We Are hits bookstores on Thursday, September 25th. In it, Zayn Malik’s band mate Harry Styles even admits to a lack of confidence. Who’d have ever thunk that?

    “I’m naturally a fairly confident person in most situations, but not all,” said Styles in Who We Are. “At that point, any natural confidence I had was being taken over by nerves because back then I had no idea how to channel and control my anxiety.”

    Profound, Harry.

    Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan will release their fourth album–aptly titled Four–in November. A single from that album, ‘Steal My Girl,’ comes out on September 29th.

    Do you suppose Zayn Malik paid any heed to Russell Brand’s advice from two years ago? It doesn’t appear as though any of the One Direction boys has added ‘fatherhood’ to their current resumes.

    Thanks, Russell?

  • eBay Announces Enterprise Commerce Marketing Platform

    eBay Announces Enterprise Commerce Marketing Platform

    eBay is readying a product called the eBay Enterprise Commerce Marketing Platform, which will reportedly combine various other platforms, including those it picked up in its 2011 acquisition of GSI Commerce.

    That deal was for $2.4 billion, and was a play by the company to cement itself as a leading strategic global commerce partner of choice for retailers and brands of all sizes.

    eBay Enterprise President Craig Hayman writes on the company’s enterprise blog, “We evaluated our existing demand-generation technologies to see how we could make them more efficient, more effective and easier to use. And we found a brilliant strategic partner in FICO, a leading predictive analytics and decision-management company.”

    “Together, we designed and built the eBay Enterprise Commerce Marketing Platform,” he adds. “This omnichannel demand-generation suite includes a robust mix of planning, management and analytical tools, fully integrated with best-in-class demand-generation solutions.”

    According to a report from AdAge, eBay intends to have clients migrated over to the new platform by the end of March after making it available in the first quarter. The report says:

    The platform, which sits on a DMP, will allow clients to combine their own proprietary data with third-party data and information from eBay itself, and could be used for things like website optimization and social- media ad retargeting based on previous product views. For example, a retailer could match its email list to eBay registration data, then connect that matched ID to a mobile device or online cookie to aim display ads at customers who don’t open emails.

    Mr. Denton [Steve Denton, VP of marketing solutions for eBay Enterprise] said eBay would not tap into any data flowing through the enterprise commerce platform for its own purposes. “Your data as a client is your data,” he said.

    According to eBay, the new platform will enable you to optimize offers and spend across all channels, act on knowledge of value/timing of “each step of the customer journey,” and utilize eBay’s own insights.

    I’m sure we’ll be hearing plenty more about this in the coming months.

    Image via eBay

  • Hootsuite Acquires Brightkit To Launch ‘Campaigns’ Offering

    Hootsuite announced that it has acquired social campaigns platform Brightkit, which it is using to launch its own new offering called Hootsuite Campaigns.

    The acquisition actually took place in July, but is just now being announced.

    “Hootsuite Campaigns helps brands take content to an audience that far exceeds their following on owned channels,” Hootsuite explains. “Marketers can quickly create flexible campaigns that engage participants and encourage social amplification. Hootsuite Campaigns are optimized for both mobile and web, and are designed to be hosted on Facebook or on microsites.”

    The offering includes customizable fields of entry for email address, country, profession, etc., as well as social sharing options through Facebook and Twitter, and the ability to connect campaigns to Google Analytics or Omniture. It also lets you customize design elements like images, colors, and fonts.

    “Digital marketers looking to amplify their message and attract new leads now have a powerful new tool that connects with their Hootsuite ecosystem,” the company says. “Live campaigns can be managed and monitored through an integration with the Hootsuite dashboard. This acquisition extends the ability of marketers to launch successful social campaigns, from build, management, amplification to measurement, all from within the Hootsuite platform.”

    Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed. The Wall Street Journal is reporting, however, that Hootsuite has secured $35 million in new financing from a group led by Fidelity Investments.

    Image via Hootsuite

  • Nicki Minaj Dethrones Miley Cyrus With an ‘A$$mazing’ ‘Anaconda’ Vevo Video

    Nicki Minaj Dethrones Miley Cyrus With an ‘A$$mazing’ ‘Anaconda’ Vevo Video

    Nicki Minaj has dethroned the reigning queen of the Vevo viewer 24-hour record with her booty-filled Anaconda music video.

    Vevo announced the new record Friday after the video topped Miley Cyrus‘ Wrecking Ball music video, which set the previous Vevo 24-hour record of 19.3 million views in September 2013. Seems like lewd videos are a must-see because Minaj had 19.6 million views in the 24 hours following its midnight Aug. 19 Vevo premiere, making it the best-ever for the music video site.

    Like Wrecking Ball before it, chatter about Anaconda has blown up social media sites. Since its debut, the song has been among the top trending topics. Within 24 hours of its release, “#AnacondaVideoOnVevo” had an estimated 854 million impressions from 145,267 Twitter mentions by 95,412 users.

    The rapper is merely reclaiming a throne she has held twice before. She previously held the record with her collaboration with Justin Bieber for Beauty and a Beat with 10.6 million views in October 2012, and again with Stupid Hoe, which received 4.8 million viewers in January 2012.

    Minaj has had more than 100 million views with six videos that have been “Certified” by Vevo.

    The bootylicious rapper grabbed a screen shot of Vevo’s Twitter post and added, “WE BROKE THE RECORD BABY!!!!! Anaconda Video 19.6 million views in 24 hrs!!!! :)”

    The racy video certainly has people talking, and Minaj told ABC News the video displaying a slew of women baring their ass-ets was exactly how she envisioned the video before it was ever made.

    “I wanted to reinstate something,” Minaj said. “Because of the shift in pop culture, even hip-hop men are really glorifying the less curvy body.

    “I wanted to say, ‘Hey ladies, you’re beautiful,’” Minaj said. “Hopefully, this changes things and maybe it won’t change things, but I love it.”

  • eBay Earnings Released, Revenue Up 13%

    eBay just released its earnings report for the second quarter with revenue growth of 13%, commerce volume growth of 26%, GAAP and non-GAAP EPS growth of 9%, and the announcement that it has repurchased $1.7 billion in stock.

    Revenue was up 13% year-over-year at $4.4 billion. GAAP earnings increased to $676 million, and non-GAAP earnings increased to $868 million.

    CEO John Donahoe said, “In a challenging second quarter, our commerce and payments platforms delivered strong enabled commerce volume growth of 26 percent. PayPal generated another strong quarter while eBay’s growth was hampered by its global password reset for all users. We continued our momentum in the four competitive commerce battlegrounds of mobile, local, global and data. We delivered new experiences for PayPal and eBay customers, extended PayPal and eBay into new markets, made it simple and easy for developers to integrate PayPal and offered new ways to help merchants grow.”

    Here’s the release in its entirety:

    SAN JOSE, Calif.–()–Global commerce platform and payments leader eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) today reported that revenue for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 increased 13% to $4.4 billion, compared to the same period in 2013. GAAP earnings increased to $676 million or $0.53 per diluted share, and non-GAAP earnings increased to $868 million or $0.69 per diluted share driven by strong enabled commerce volume growth.

    “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”

    eBay Inc.’s commerce ecosystem continued to gain share, with total company enabled commerce volume (ECV) increasing 26% in the second quarter to $62 billion. Mobile ECV advanced 68% to $12 billion representing 20% of volume. Mobile downloads since inception were 260 million and attracted 6.6 million new customers in the quarter. Cross-border trade grew 26%, representing $13 billion, or 22%, of total company ECV.

    “In a challenging second quarter, our commerce and payments platforms delivered strong enabled commerce volume growth of 26 percent,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “PayPal generated another strong quarter while eBay’s growth was hampered by its global password reset for all users. We continued our momentum in the four competitive commerce battlegrounds of mobile, local, global and data. We delivered new experiences for PayPal and eBay customers, extended PayPal and eBay into new markets, made it simple and easy for developers to integrate PayPal and offered new ways to help merchants grow.”

    PayPal net total payment volume (TPV) grew 29% with Merchant Services volume up 35% and on-eBay volume up 13%. Revenue grew to $1.9 billion. PayPal gained 4.0 million new active registered accounts to end the quarter at 152 million, up 15%. Global on-eBay penetration increased to 79.8%. PayPal signed a deal with GE to extend its relationship offering a dual branded retail credit card and committed to purchase the loan portfolio in 2016 for an estimated $1 billion, based on the size of the portfolio at that time. This provides PayPal with flexibility to expand its credit offerings to consumers and merchants while improving its ability to manage transaction expense and reinvest back into the business to accelerate payment volume growth.

    eBay Marketplaces gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 12%, with the U.S. up 10% and International up 14%. Revenue grew to $2.2 billion. Marketplaces gained 3.8 million new buyers to end the quarter with 149 million active buyers, up 14%. Top rated sellers in the company’s three largest markets grew their same-store sales 14% and offered free shipping on 56.4% of transactions across those markets. The selection of items available on Marketplaces grew to over 700 million listings, including both platform and non-platform offerings, reflecting the success of improved selling initiatives, particularly on mobile.

    eBay Enterprise gross merchandise sales (GMS) grew 15%. Revenue grew to $267 million. Enterprise enabled its clients to grow same-store sales 14%.

    Second Quarter 2014 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)
    Second Quarter
    2014 2013 Change
    eBay Inc.
    Net revenue $4,366 $3,877 $489 13%
    Enabled commerce volume (ECV) $61,639 $48,776 $12,863 26%
    GAAP
    Net income $676 $640 $36 6%
    Earnings per diluted share $0.53 $0.49 $0.04 9%
    Non-GAAP
    Net income $868 $822 $46 6%
    Earnings per diluted share $0.69 $0.63 $0.06 9%
    Business Units
    Payments
    Net revenue $1,946 $1,624 $322 20%
    Net total payment volume (TPV) $55,046 $42,813 $12,233 29%
    Marketplaces
    Net revenue $2,174 $2,001 $173 9%
    Gross merchandise volume (GMV) $20,485 $18,276 $2,209 12%
    Enterprise
    Net revenue $267 $260 $7 3%
    Gross merchandise sales (GMS) $940 $815 $125 15%

    Other Selected Financial and Operational Results

    • Operating margin — GAAP operating margin decreased to 18.2% for the second quarter of 2014, compared to 19.3% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 24.4% in the second quarter, compared to 26.3% for the same period last year.
    • Taxes — The GAAP effective tax rate for the second quarter of 2014 was 15.8%, compared to 15.3% for the second quarter of 2013. For the second quarter of 2014 and 2013, the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 19.4% and 19.2%, respectively.
    • Cash flow — The company generated $1.5 billion of operating cash flow and $1.2 billion of free cash flow during the second quarter of 2014.
    • Stock repurchase programs — The company repurchased 32.4 million shares of its common stock for approximately $1.7 billion in the second quarter of 2014. As of June 30, 2014, the company’s remaining share repurchase authorization was approximately $2.2 billion.
    • Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments — The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $12.4 billion at June 30, 2014, down from $12.8 billion at December 31, 2013.

    Business Outlook

    • Third quarter 2014 — The company expects net revenues in the range of $4,300 – $4,400 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.51 – $0.53 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.65 – $0.67.
    • Full year 2014 — The company expects net revenues in the range of $18,000 – $18,300 million with GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $0.04 – $0.09 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share in the range of $2.95 – $3.00.

    Quarterly Conference Call and Webcast

    eBay Inc. will host a conference call to discuss second quarter 2014 results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website athttp://investor.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for 90 days through the same link.

    eBay Inc. uses its Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor, in addition to following press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls and webcasts.

    About eBay Inc.

    eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce and payments leader, providing a robust platform where merchants of all sizes can compete and win. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. connects millions of buyers and sellers and enabled $205 billion* of commerce volume in 2013. We do so through eBay, one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive digital payments; and through eBay Enterprise, which enables omnichannel commerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises in the U.S. and internationally. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

    * This adjusted number reflects decision to remove vehicles and real estate GMV from ongoing total GMV and ECV metrics (previously stated ECV for 2013 was $212 billion, incorporating vehicles and real estate GMV).

    Presentation

    All growth rates represent year over year comparisons, except as otherwise noted. All amounts in tables are presented in U.S. dollars, rounded to the nearest millions, except as otherwise noted. As a result, certain amounts may not sum or recalculate using the rounded dollar amounts provided.

    Non-GAAP Financial Measures

    This press release includes the following financial measures defined as “non-GAAP financial measures” by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC): non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate and free cash flow. These measures may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. The presentation of this financial information, which is not prepared under any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles, is not intended to be considered in isolation of, or as a substitute for, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). For a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the nearest comparable GAAP measures, see “Business Outlook,” “Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin,” “Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and Reconciliation of GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate” and “Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow” included in this press release.

    Forward-Looking Statements

    This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to, among other things, the future performance of eBay Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries that are based on the company’s current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expected financial results for the third quarter and full year 2014, and the future growth in the Payments, Marketplaces and Enterprise businesses, mobile payments and mobile commerce, the company’s plans regarding its stock repurchase programs, and the impact of the cyberattack on the company’s results of operations. The company’s actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: changes in political, business and economic conditions, any European, Asian or general economic downturn or crisis (including any economic disruption or sanctions related to Ukraine or Russia) and any conditions that affect ecommerce growth; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the company’s need to successfully react to the increasing importance of mobile payments and mobile commerce and the increasing social aspect of commerce; the company’s ability to deal with the increasingly competitive ecommerce environment, including competition for its sellers from other trading sites and other means of selling, and competition for its buyers from other merchants, online and offline; changes to the company’s capital allocation or management of operating cash; the company’s need to manage an increasingly large enterprise with a broad range of businesses of varying degrees of maturity and in many different geographies; the effect of management changes and business initiatives; the company’s need and ability to manage other regulatory, tax and litigation risks as its services are offered in more jurisdictions and applicable laws become more restrictive; any changes the company may make to its product offerings; the competitive, regulatory, payment card association-related and other risks specific to PayPal and Bill Me Later, especially as PayPal continues to expand geographically and introduce new products and as new laws and regulations related to financial services companies come into effect; the company’s ability to timely upgrade and develop its technology systems, infrastructure and customer service capabilities at reasonable cost; the company’s ability to maintain site stability and performance on all of its sites while adding new products and features in a timely fashion; and the company’s ability to profitably integrate, manage and grow businesses that have been acquired or may be acquired in the future. The forward-looking statements in this release do not include the potential impact of any acquisitions or divestitures that may be announced and/or completed after the date hereof.

    More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the company’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s Investor Relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. All information in this release is as of July 16, 2014. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release, which are based on information available to the company on the date hereof. The company assumes no obligation to update such statements.

    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
    June 30, December 31,
    2014 2013
    (In millions)
    ASSETS
    Current assets:
    Cash and cash equivalents $ 3,834 $ 4,494
    Short-term investments 3,535 4,531
    Accounts receivable, net 765 899
    Loans and interest receivable, net 2,939 2,789
    Funds receivable and customer accounts 10,037 9,260
    Other current assets 1,268 1,310
    Total current assets 22,378 23,283
    Long-term investments 6,217 4,971
    Property and equipment, net 2,685 2,760
    Goodwill 9,367 9,267
    Intangible assets, net 714 941
    Other assets 279 266
    Total assets $ 41,640 $ 41,488
    LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
    Current liabilities:
    Short-term debt $ 1,203 $ 6
    Accounts payable 312 309
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers 10,037 9,260
    Accrued expenses and other current liabilities 5,693 2,799
    Deferred revenue 183 158
    Income taxes payable 110 107
    Total current liabilities 17,538 12,639
    Deferred and other tax liabilities, net 774 841
    Long-term debt 4,118 4,117
    Other liabilities 240 244
    Total liabilities 22,670 17,841
    Total stockholders’ equity 18,970 23,647
    Total liabilities and stockholders’ equity $ 41,640 $ 41,488
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Income
    Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    Net revenues $ 4,366 $ 3,877 $ 8,628 $ 7,625
    Cost of net revenues (1) 1,392 1,211 2,743 2,363
    Gross profit 2,974 2,666 5,885 5,262
    Operating expenses:
    Sales and marketing (1) 914 771 1,719 1,468
    Product development (1) 500 451 980 885
    General and administrative (1) 461 419 926 827
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 232 193 436 368
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets 73 82 152 164
    Total operating expenses 2,180 1,916 4,213 3,712
    Income from operations 794 750 1,672 1,550
    Interest and other, net 9 6 4 15
    Income before income taxes 803 756 1,676 1,565
    Provision for income taxes (127 ) (116 ) (3,326 ) (248 )
    Net income (loss) $ 676 $ 640 $ (1,650 ) $ 1,317
    Net income (loss) per share:
    Basic $ 0.54 $ 0.49 $ (1.30 ) $ 1.02
    Diluted $ 0.53 $ 0.49 $ (1.30 ) $ 1.00
    Weighted average shares:
    Basic 1,258 1,297 1,267 1,296
    Diluted 1,267 1,313 1,267 1,316
    (1) Includes stock-based compensation as follows:
    Cost of net revenues $ 20 $ 23 $ 37 $ 36
    Sales and marketing 45 41 87 74
    Product development 59 46 110 78
    General and administrative 42 51 81 84
    $ 166 $ 161 $ 315 $ 272
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
    Three Months Ended June 30, Six Months Ended June 30,
    2014 2013 2014 2013
    (In millions)
    Cash flows from operating activities:
    Net income (loss) $ 676 $ 640 $ (1,650 ) $ 1,317
    Adjustments:
    Provision for transaction and loan losses 232 193 436 368
    Depreciation and amortization 373 347 755 676
    Stock-based compensation 166 161 315 272
    Deferred income taxes (48 ) (103 ) 3,060 347
    Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisition effects 95 (227 ) (248 ) (1,032 )
    Net cash provided by operating activities 1,494 1,011 2,668 1,948
    Cash flows from investing activities:
    Purchases of property and equipment (269 ) (353 ) (475 ) (652 )
    Changes in principal loans receivable, net (230 ) (154 ) (232 ) (183 )
    Purchases of investments (2,380 ) (598 ) (3,641 ) (2,024 )
    Maturities and sales of investments 1,258 750 3,264 1,798
    Acquisitions, net of cash acquired (35 ) (7 ) (39 ) (15 )
    Other (5 ) (9 ) (6 ) (14 )
    Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (1,661 ) (371 ) (1,129 ) (1,090 )
    Cash flows from financing activities:
    Proceeds from issuance of common stock 99 142 154 244
    Repurchases of common stock (1,657 ) (466 ) (3,468 ) (942 )
    Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation 26 45 86 161
    Tax withholdings related to net share settlements of restricted stock units and awards (106 ) (73 ) (210 ) (226 )
    Net borrowings under commercial paper program 1,200 — 1,200 —
    Funds receivable and customer accounts, net (389 ) (115 ) (777 ) (918 )
    Funds payable and amounts due to customers, net 389 115 777 918
    Other (7 ) — — —
    Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (445 ) (352 ) (2,238 ) (763 )
    Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents 31 37 39 (57 )
    Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents (581 ) 325 (660 ) 38
    Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 4,415 6,530 4,494 6,817
    Cash and cash equivalents at end of period $ 3,834 $ 6,855 $ 3,834 $ 6,855
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Summary of Consolidated Net Revenues
    Net Revenues by Type (1) Three Months Ended
    June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30, June 30,
    2014 2014 2013 2013 2013
    Net transaction revenues (In millions, except percentages)
    Marketplaces $ 1,722 $ 1,727 $ 1,828 $ 1,609 $ 1,578
    Current quarter vs prior quarter — % (6 )% 14 % 2 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 9 % 11 % 13 % 13 % 11 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 58 % 58 % 57 % 55 % 55 %
    Payments 1,741 1,700 1,693 1,493 1,475
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % — % 13 % 1 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 18 % 19 % 18 % 18 % 20 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 56 % 56 % 57 % 56 % 56 %
    Enterprise 207 208 333 185 194
    Current quarter vs prior quarter — % (38 )% 80 % (5 )% 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 7 % 12 % — % 9 % 18 %
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international 4 % 4 % 3 % 4 % 5 %
    Total net transaction revenues 3,670 3,635 3,854 3,287 3,247
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 1 % (6 )% 17 % 1 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 13 % 14 % 14 % 15 % 15 %
    Marketing services and other revenues
    Marketplaces 452 428 471 418 423
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 6 % (9 )% 13 % (1 )% 5 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 7 % 6 % 8 % 10 % 9 %
    Percent of Marketplaces revenue from international 72 % 71 % 69 % 70 % 71 %
    Payments 205 145 143 127 149
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 41 % 1 % 13 % (15 )% 32 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 38 % 27 % 31 % 25 % 21 %
    Percent of Payments revenue from international 3 % 3 % 4 % 3 % 3 %
    Enterprise 60 61 74 67 66
    Current quarter vs prior quarter (2 )% (17 )% 11 % 2 % 6 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter (9 )% (1 )% (3 )% (1 )% (1 )%
    Percent of Enterprise revenue from international — % — % — % — % — %
    Total marketing services and other revenues 717 634 688 612 638
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 13 % (8 )% 12 % (4 )% 10 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12 % 10 % 11 % 11 % 10 %
    Elimination of inter-segment net revenue (2) (21 ) (7 ) (12 ) $ (7 ) $ (8 )
    Total net revenues $ 4,366 $ 4,262 $ 4,530 $ 3,892 $ 3,877
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % (6 )% 16 % — % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 13 % 14 % 13 % 14 % 14 %
    (1) During the first quarter of 2014, we changed our reportable segments based on changes in our organizational structure which reflect the integration of our Magento platform into our Enterprise segment. Prior to this change, Magento was reported in corporate and other. Also during the quarter, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we reclassified our Marketplaces vehicles and real estate revenues from net transaction revenues to marketing services and other revenues. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.
    (2) Represents revenue generated between our reportable segments.
    Net Revenues by Geography (1) Three Months Ended
    June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30, June 30,
    2014 2014 2013 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    U.S. net revenues $ 2,047 $ 1,998 $ 2,180 $ 1,873 $ 1,870
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % (8 )% 16 % — % 5 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 9 % 12 % 11 % 14 % 16 %
    Percent of total 47 % 47 % 48 % 48 % 48 %
    International net revenues 2,319 2,264 2,350 2,019 2,007
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % (4 )% 16 % 1 % 2 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 16 % 16 % 16 % 15 % 12 %
    Percent of total 53 % 53 % 52 % 52 % 52 %
    Total net revenues $ 4,366 $ 4,262 $ 4,530 $ 3,892 $ 3,877
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % (6 )% 16 % — % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 13 % 14 % 13 % 14 % 14 %
    (1) Revenues are attributed to U.S. and international geographies primarily based upon the country in which the seller, payment recipient, customer, website that displays advertising, or other service provider, as the case may be, is located.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited eBay Inc. Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30, June 30,
    2014 2014 2013 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    ECV (1) $61,639 $58,495 $59,607 $49,727 $48,776
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 5 % (2 %) 20 % 2 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 26 % 24 % 23 % 23 % 22 %
    During the first quarter of 2014, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we correspondingly excluded vehicles and real estate gross merchandise volume from our total gross merchandise volume. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.
    (1) Includes Marketplaces GMV (excluding vehicles and real estate), Payments Merchant Services Net TPV and eBay Enterprise Gross Merchandise Sales not earned on eBay or paid for via PayPal or Bill Me Later during the period; excludes volume transacted through the Magento platform. PayPal Merchant Services Net TPV is the total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including Bill Me Later, Venmo, and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period, excludes PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses and payments for transactions on our Marketplaces platforms.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Payments Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30, June 30,
    2014 2014 2013 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active registered accounts (1) 152.5 148.4 142.6 137.4 132.4
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 4 % 4 % 4 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 15 % 16 % 16 % 17 % 17 %
    Net number of payments (2) 850.2 834.4 846.1 729.4 700.6
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 2 % (1 )% 16 % 4 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 21 % 22 % 22 % 24 % 24 %
    Net total payment volume (3) $55,046 $52,006 $51,973 $43,837 $42,813
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 6 % — % 19 % 2 % 4 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 29 % 27 % 25 % 25 % 24 %
    On eBay net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 27 % 29 % 29 % 30 % 30 %
    Merchant Services net total payment volume as % of net total payment volume 73 % 71 % 71 % 70 % 70 %
    Take rate (4) 3.53 % 3.55 % 3.53 % 3.70 % 3.79 %
    Transaction rates (5)
    Expense rate 0.95 % 0.99 % 0.97 % 1.05 % 1.04 %
    Loss rate 0.28 % 0.27 % 0.32 % 0.30 % 0.31 %
    Margin rate 65.1 % 64.6 % 63.5 % 63.4 % 64.4 %
    Loan portfolio rates
    Risk adjusted margin (6) 16.6 % 16.2 % 15.8 % 16.1 % 16.2 %
    Net charge-off rate (7) 5.5 % 5.4 % 6.3 % 5.5 % 5.6 %
    90-day delinquency rate (8) 2.7 % 2.8 % 2.9 % 3.2 % 2.7 %
    (1) All registered accounts that successfully sent or received at least one payment or payment reversal through our payments networks, including Bill Me Later and Venmo, but excluding users of Braintree’s unbranded payment checkout solutions, within the last 12 months and which are currently able to transact.
    (2) Total number of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including Bill Me Later, Venmo, and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period; excludes payments sent or received through PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses.
    (3) Total dollar volume of payments, net of payment reversals, successfully completed through our payments networks, including Bill Me Later, Venmo, and payments processed through Braintree’s full stack payments platform during the period; excludes payments sent or received through PayPal’s and Braintree’s payment gateway businesses.
    (4) Take Rate reflects total net revenues earned through our payments networks, including Bill Me Later, Braintree, Venmo, PayPal’s payment gateway business, subscription fees and other net revenues, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    (5) Expense Rate reflects third party payment processing expenses and other related service costs, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    Loss Rate reflects expense associated with our customer protection programs, fraud, chargebacks and merchant credit losses, bad debt expense associated with our accounts receivable balances, and loan reserves associated with our loan receivables balances, divided by Net Total Payment Volume.
    Margin Rate reflects Take Rate less Expense Rate and Loss Rate, divided by Take Rate.
    (6) The risk adjusted margin represents annualized credit portfolio revenue, excluding contra-revenue incentives to customers or merchants, less cost of funds and less net credit and fraud losses during the period, divided by average loans receivable for the period.
    (7) Net charge-off rate is the annualized ratio of net credit losses over the average daily loan receivables balance during the period.  Net credit losses are the principal loan losses, exclusive of interest and late fee write offs, less recoveries of previously charged off balances.
    (8) 90-day delinquency rate is the end of period Bill Me Later account balances that have missed three or more consecutive payments, divided by total ending loan receivables.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Marketplaces Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30, June 30,
    2014 2014 2013 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Active Buyers (1) 148.9 145.1 140.3 134.9 130.8
    Current quarter vs prior quarter 3 % 3 % 4 % 3 % 3 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 14 % 14 % 14 % 13 % 13 %
    Gross Merchandise Volume (2) $20,485 $20,545 $21,503 $18,345 $18,276
    Current quarter vs prior quarter — % (4 )% 17 % — % — %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 12 % 12 % 13 % 13 % 13 %
    U.S. GMV as % of total GMV 39 % 40 % 39 % 40 % 40 %
    International GMV as % of total GMV 61 % 60 % 61 % 60 % 60 %
    eBay’s classifieds web sites, brands4friends and Shopping.com are not included in these metrics.
    During the first quarter of 2014, we revised our internal management reporting of certain Marketplaces transactions to align more closely with our related operating metrics. Related to this change, we reclassified our Marketplaces vehicle and real estate revenue from net transaction revenues to marketing services and other revenues. Prior period amounts have been revised to conform to the current period segment reporting structure.
    (1) All buyers (including buyers of Half.com, StubHub, GittiGidiyor, and our Korean subsidiary) who successfully closed a transaction within the previous 12-month period. Buyers may register more than once, and as a result, may have more than one account.
    (2) Total value of all successfully closed transactions between users on Marketplaces platforms during the period regardless of whether the buyer and seller actually consummated the transaction; excludes vehicles and real estate gross merchandise volume.
    eBay Inc.
    Unaudited Enterprise Supplemental Operating Data
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, March 31, December 31, September 30, June 30,
    2014 2014 2013 2013 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    Gross Merchandise Sales (1) $940 $936 $1,771 $787 $815
    Current quarter vs prior quarter — % (47 %) 125 % (3 %) 1 %
    Current quarter vs prior year quarter 15 % 16 % 11 % 13 % 21 %
    (1) Represents the retail value of all sales transactions, inclusive of freight charges and net of allowance for returns and discounts, which flow through our Enterprise commerce technologies, whether we record the full amount of such transaction as a product sale or a percentage of such transaction as a service fee; excludes volume transacted through the Magento platform.

    eBay Inc.
    Business Outlook
    (In Millions, Except Per Share Amounts)

    The guidance figures provided below and elsewhere in this press release are forward-looking statements, reflect a number of estimates, assumptions and other uncertainties, and are approximate in nature because the company’s future performance is difficult to predict. Such guidance is based on information available on the date of this press release, and the company assumes no obligation to update it.

    The company’s future performance involves risks and uncertainties, and the company’s actual results could differ materially from the information below and elsewhere in this press release. Some of the factors that could affect the company’s operating results are set forth under the caption “Forward-Looking Statements” above in this press release. More information about factors that could affect the company’s operating results is included under the captions “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in its most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting the company’s investor relations website at http://investor.ebayinc.com or the SEC’s website atwww.sec.gov.

    Three Months Ending
    September 30, 2014
    (In millions, except per share amounts) GAAP Non-GAAP (a)
    Net Revenue $4,300 – $4,400 $4,300 – $4,400
    Diluted EPS $0.51 – $0.53 $0.65 – $0.67
    Twelve Months Ending
    December 31, 2014
    GAAP Non-GAAP (b)
    Net Revenue $18,000 – $18,300 $18,000 – $18,300
    Diluted EPS $0.04 – $0.09 $2.95 – $3.00
    (a) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the three months ending September 30, 2014, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $70 – $80 million and estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $165 – $175 million as well as the related tax impact.
    (b) Estimated non-GAAP amounts above for the twelve months ending December 31, 2014, reflect adjustments that exclude the estimated amortization of acquired intangible assets of approximately $340 – $360 million and estimated stock-based compensation expense and employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation expense of approximately $675 – $695 million as well as the related tax impact.

    eBay Inc.
    Non-GAAP Measures of Financial Performance

    To supplement the company’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, the company uses non-GAAP measures of certain components of financial performance. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP effective tax rate, and free cash flow.

    These non-GAAP measures are not in accordance with, or an alternative to, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP and may be different from non-GAAP measures used by other companies. In addition, these non-GAAP measures are not based on any comprehensive set of accounting rules or principles. Non-GAAP measures have limitations in that they do not reflect all of the amounts associated with the company’s results of operations as determined in accordance with GAAP. These measures should only be used to evaluate the company’s results of operations in conjunction with the corresponding GAAP measures.

    Reconciliation to the nearest GAAP measure of all non-GAAP measures included in this press release can be found in the tables included in this press release.

    These non-GAAP measures are provided to enhance investors’ overall understanding of the company’s current financial performance and its prospects for the future. Specifically, the company believes the non-GAAP measures provide useful information to both management and investors by excluding certain expenses, gains and losses or net purchases of property and equipment, as the case may be, that may not be indicative of its core operating results and business outlook. In addition, because the company has historically reported certain non-GAAP results to investors, the company believes that the inclusion of non-GAAP measures provides consistency in the company’s financial reporting.

    For its internal budgeting process, and as discussed further below, the company’s management uses financial measures that do not include stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on stock-based compensation, amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses from the disposal/acquisition of a business, certain gains and losses on investments, restructuring-related charges and the income taxes associated with the foregoing. In addition to the corresponding GAAP measures, the company’s management also uses the foregoing non-GAAP measures in reviewing the financial results of the company.

    The company excludes the following items from non-GAAP net income, non-GAAP earnings per diluted share, non-GAAP operating margin and non-GAAP effective tax rate:

    Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes. This expense consists of expenses for stock options, restricted stock and employee stock purchases. The company excludes stock-based compensation expense from its non-GAAP measures primarily because they are non-cash expenses that management does not believe are reflective of ongoing operating results. The related employer payroll taxes is dependent on the company’s stock price and the timing and size of exercises by employees of their stock options and the vesting of their restricted stock, over which management has limited to no control, and as such management does not believe it correlates to the company’s operation of the business.

    Amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets, impairment of goodwill, significant gains or losses and transaction expenses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and certain gains or losses on investments. The company incurs amortization or impairment of acquired intangible assets and goodwill in connection with acquisitions and may incur significant gains or losses from the acquisition or disposal of a business and therefore excludes these amounts from its non-GAAP measures. The company also excludes certain gains and losses on investments. The company excludes the impact of the accretion of a note receivable associated with the disposal of certain businesses. The company excludes these items because management does not believe they correlate to the ongoing operating results of the company’s business.

    Restructuring. These charges consist of expenses for employee severance and other exit and disposal costs. The company excludes significant restructuring charges primarily because management does not believe they are reflective of ongoing operating results.

    Other certain significant gains, losses, or charges that are not indicative of the Company’s core operating results. These are significant gains, losses, or charges during a period that are the result of isolated events or transactions which have not occurred frequently in the past and are not expected to occur regularly or be repeated in the future. The company excludes these amounts from its results primarily because management does not believe they are indicative of its current or ongoing operating results.

    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments. This amount is used to present stock-based compensation and the other amounts described above on an after-tax basis consistent with the presentation of non-GAAP net income.

    In addition to the non-GAAP measures discussed above, the company also uses free cash flow. Free cash flow represents operating cash flows less purchases of property and equipment. The company considers free cash flow to be a liquidity measure that provides useful information to management and investors about the amount of cash generated by the business after the purchases of property, buildings, and equipment, which can then be used to, among other things, invest in the company’s business, make strategic acquisitions, and repurchase stock. A limitation of the utility of free cash flow as a measure of financial performance is that it does not represent the total increase or decrease in the company’s cash balance for the period.

    eBay Inc.
    Reconciliation of GAAP Operating Margin to Non-GAAP Operating Margin
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, June 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions, except percentages)
    GAAP operating income $ 794 $ 750
    Stock-based compensation expense and related employer payroll taxes 177 168
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within cost of net revenues 22 19
    Amortization of acquired intangible assets within operating expenses 73 82
    Restructuring — —
    Total non-GAAP operating income adjustments 272 269
    Non-GAAP operating income $ 1,066 $ 1,019
    Non-GAAP operating margin 24.4 % 26.3 %
    Reconciliation of GAAP Net Income to Non-GAAP Net Income and
    GAAP Effective Tax Rate to Non-GAAP Effective Tax Rate
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, June 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions, except per share amounts)
    GAAP income before income taxes $ 803 $ 756
    GAAP provision for income taxes (127 ) (116 )
    GAAP net income $ 676 $ 640
    Non-GAAP adjustments to net income:
    Non-GAAP operating income adjustments (see table above) 272 269
    Accretion of note receivable — (5 )
    Amortization of intangibles of investments 2 2
    Other significant gains, losses or charges — (5 )
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments (82 ) (79 )
    Non-GAAP net income $ 868 $ 822
    Diluted net income per share:
    GAAP $ 0.53 $ 0.49
    Non-GAAP $ 0.69 $ 0.63
    Shares used in GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net income per-share calculation 1,267 1,313
    GAAP effective tax rate 16 % 15 %
    Tax effect of non-GAAP adjustments to net income 3 % 4 %
    Non-GAAP effective tax rate 19 % 19 %
    Reconciliation of Operating Cash Flow to Free Cash Flow
    Three Months Ended
    June 30, June 30,
    2014 2013
    (In millions)
    Net cash provided by operating activities $ 1,494 $ 1,011
    Less: Purchases of property and equipment (269 ) (353 )
    Free cash flow $ 1,225 $ 658

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