EBay Inc. reported revenues at its GSI segment, which operates online stores for sports-oriented chains such as Sports Authority, Eastern Mountain Sports, SportChek, and several professional sports leagues, increased 10 percent in the fourth quarter, to $398 million. The gains were driven primarily by a 17 percent increase in global ecommerce merchandise (GeC) sales. GSI’s same-store sales grew 19 percent, outpacing e-commerce.
For the full year, GSI shipped a record 146 million units for its clients and contributed revenue of $1.1 billion in 2012. Growth was aided by bringing eBays resources to GSIs client web operations, including mobile app development, buy online and pick up in-store and mobile express checkout. GSI was acquired by eBay in June 2011.
On a conference call with analysts, John Donahoe, eBays president and CEO, said GSI continues to execute well and we continue to make good progress capturing synergies across our portfolio to help large retailers and brands succeed.
Bob Swan, eBays CFO, added on the call that GSI continues to execute in line with our expectations. Segment margin in the fourth quarter came in at 20.3 percent, down 110 basis points, due to a lower take rate and the increased cost of seasonal hiring. He said the new v11 e-commerce platform has been certified and GSI has begun deploying merchants on the platform in the first half of 2013.
Regarding ongoing integration, Swan said 17 GSI client sites are now leveraging eBay.com as a distribution channel to expand their businesses domestically and some are also using eBay to expand their global footprint outside the US. PayPal, also owned by eBay, is also increasingly becoming the way to pay on GSI client websites. PayPal coverage is now more than 90 percent of GSI client volume, and share of checkout is 16 percent. Additionally, 47 client sites are using PayPal mobile, 41 offer Bill Me Later and four are adopting PayPal POS capabilities. Finally, GSI is leveraging eBay services, including RedLaser, eBay Now, the PayPal Media Network and Magento in building client solutions.
Overall, EBay’s sales climbed 18.1 percent in the quarter to $3.99 billion, aided by double-digit user growth across its portfolio as well as strong gains in mobile adoption. Excluding charges relating to its sell-off last year of Skype, earnings advanced 17.5 percent to $927 million, or 70 cents a share, just ahead of Wall Streets expectations.
