EBay maps holiday mobile shopping trends

By Aemon Malone December 2, 2010

EBay has posted an interactive “global heat map” showing where mobile shopping is popular this holiday shopping season (and where it’s not). The site lists 20 eBay categories and the total values for purchased items in a given region. The data only covers transactions that occurred through eBay’s mobile apps during Thanksgiving week and Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

The map, which is powered by Google, lets users select from six countries: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom. Australia, Canada, and France. The U.S. portion is further broken down by state. So, for example, it is possible to see just how much mobile eBay shoppers in Virginia spent on musical instruments on Nov. 29, Cyber Monday (answer: $1,174). There is also a comparison option to measure popularity of different categories in different regions. For example, in Texas, sporting goods brought in more money than health and beauty products.

Looking at the U.S. map overall, you won’t see any real surprises. The more densely populated urban regions tend to be much more active in mobile shopping than states that are primarily rural. Wyoming, for instance, rang in about $4,000 on Cyber Monday while California accounted for over $400,000 in sales on that same day. No real shocker, but it would be interesting to see a per capita comparison among the states.

EBay’s mobile shopping sales from Nov. 22 – Nov. 29 were overall up 230 percent from the same period a year ago with cars and trucks, and clothing and jewelry being the most popular categories among mobile shoppers. The U.K. was the strongest purchaser of cars and trucks, accounting for 20 percent of sales there. New York, California, Pennsylvania, Texas and Florida were the top states in eBay’s mobile sales from Nov. 22 – Nov. 29. California was the most active state, leading in both sales and volume.

EBay’s iPhone app – there are now six different eBay iPhone apps – was the most popular among mobile shoppers, making up for around two thirds of transactions during the holiday week. Blackberry, Android and app-less mobile Web browsers accounted for the remaining one third.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Deals

Should you buy a phone on Black Friday or wait for Cyber Monday?

The Galaxy Z Fold 4's hinge.

While Black Friday is the best time to buy a phone, many folks tend to worry about whether waiting for Cyber Monday is a better idea. This fear of missing out is pretty typical around these two shopping events, so let's take a look at that and some great Black Friday phone deals you can pick up.
Should you buy a phone on Black Friday?
The short answer is yes, you should buy a phone on Black Friday. While it's true we're likely to see many great deals on Cyber Monday, especially since they tend to mirror Black Friday deals, you can never guarantee that. As such, it's better to grab Black Friday phone deals as soon as you see one you like rather than waiting. Plus, even if you find a better deal on Cyber Monday, you can still refund your earlier purchase from Black Friday and pick up the newer and better deal.
Our 5 favorite Black Friday phone deals
Straight Talk Apple iPhone SE (2020) -- $99, was $149

The Apple iPhone SE (2020) was a big surprise when it was released a couple of years ago since Apple always maintained a more premium product category. Even at a lower price, the SE is still a surprisingly powerful machine that uses the A13 Bionic chip. Granted, it's a bit dated at this point, but you can still get some great performance when playing games and using apps; at the very least, it's still quite snappy. Picture quality is, of course, excellent as ever, given that Apple has some of the best cameras in the industry. As for the screen, it's a 4.7-inch beauty with a resolution of 1,334 x 750 with True Tone, so it adjusts to your environment, which we love to see for a budget Apple phone. Of course, the most impressive part is that you can grab all of this through Straight Talk for less than $100, and while it is the older SE, it's still an excellent phone, but if you want to see the comparison, we have taken a look at the Apple iPhone SE (2022) vs. iPhone SE (2020).

Mobile

Best mobile hotspots for travel in 2022

Family using a mobile hot spot feat image.

If you're a certified road warrior or hardcore traveler, mobile hotspots are now essential gear. Whether you’re traveling to a remote place and need to stay up to date with your emails or visiting a city and wish to avoid public Wi-Fi, mobile hotspots are for you. While your new smartphone likely has a mobile hotspot built-in, standalone Wi-Fi hotspots are more flexible, especially for multiple devices and phones with network data caps. With a hotspot, you can connect your laptop, phone, tablet, or Wi-Fi-connected camera without component battery drain. We found some excellent hotspots for you to choose from.

The proliferation of 5G networks has increased the prevalence of 5G hotspots. If 4G LTE is not cutting it for your needs, have a look at our list of the best 5G hotspots.

Mobile

It’s late 2022, and Verizon and AT&T still can’t beat T-Mobile’s 5G network

It’s been 10 months since Verizon and AT&T flipped the switch on their new C-band 5G spectrum, but it appears both carriers still have their work cut out for them if they want to catch up to T-Mobile.

Market analyses and independent tests have agreed for years that T-Mobile is the fastest and most reliable 5G carrier in the U.S. That’s not surprising as it had a massive advantage by holding licenses for the crucial midrange spectrum that provides the best balance between range and speed. While Verizon’s early high-frequency mmWave rollouts allowed it to boast raw speeds that were significantly faster, those were confined to about 1% of its subscriber base.