EBay reports mobile shopping boom

EBay shoppers used cellphones to make more purchases this holiday season than in past years, according to LATimes.

The online marketplace operator said people used cellphones to buy 1.5 million products in the last several weeks, three times the number for the same period of 2008, from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve.

EBay says holiday mobile purchases include a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette that sold for $75 000 and a 23-foot boat for $19 108. Other items bought through mobile applications included watches, phones and video games.

Online purchasing monitoring company comScore says e-commerce spending from 1 November through to Christmas Eve was about $27 million, and increase of 5% over last year, states MultichannelMerchant.

For the period from Black Friday through Christmas Eve, and after adjusting for the additional shopping day in 2009, sales grew by approximately 3.5%.

ComScore chairman Gian Fulgoni says the season featured a strong start as a result of early retailer promotions and an even stronger finish helped by retailers' willingness to offer free shipping later in the season.

People were happier than ever with online shopping this holiday season, according to a study released by ForeSee Results, says MediaPost.

The research firm found customer satisfaction increased 7% to 79 out of 100, the highest level since it began its E-Retail Satisfaction Index in 2001.

Last year, only Amazon and Netflix received "excellent" ratings by those surveyed. This year, 11 sites were given excellent ratings, including Apple and electronics retailer Newegg.com. Circuity City and Neiman Marcus, at opposite ends of the retail spectrum, were among the lowest performers, at 73.