eBay Sept. Same-Store Sales Decreased 4 Percent

ChannelAdvisor announced same-store sales for a handful of online retailers, including Amazon and eBay.

In a report on Friday (Oct. 7), ChannelAdvisor said September same-store sales for eBay came in at 4 percent, a decrease from 5.9 percent in August and below eBay’s growth rate of 15 percent. What’s more, ChannelAdvisor found same-store sales for eBay’s auctions in September were negative 30.1 percent year over year. In August, the same-store sales for eBay auctions were negative 15.9 percent. Sales of eBay fixed-price were up 2 percent year over year in September but down from 3.1 percent in August. EBay Motors, which includes parts and accessories, saw a same-store sales increase of 12.6 percent in September but down from August’s 13.9 percent. EBay Motors Parts & Accessories “continued to be the bright spot in the eBay SSS results, growing fastest of all the eBay components and coming in close to the eCommerce growth rate,” ChannelAdvisor wrote in the report.

Meanwhile, Amazon’s same-store sales in September came in at 11.8 percent, an increased compared to same-store sales of 10.5 percent in August. The results are in-line with the 15 percent eCommerce growth rate comScore forecasted.

The results come at a time when eBay is trying to improve its business. In April, it was reported that eBay was changing its SEO practices, a problem the firm has recently identified as weakening its performance. The fix is aimed at upping active usership — and hopefully pushing top-line earnings. Historically, eBay has focused on listings instead of products, which is not Google’s preferred method of search. By shifting its categorization purview to be centered on product categories instead of individual listings, analysts predict eBay will finally get back into alignment with Google.