EBay Inc. reported a decline in active buyers in the latest quarter and projected lower-than-expected revenue in the current quarter, in another sign of softening e-commerce trends.
The online marketplace reported 159 million active buyers for the June quarter, a 2% decline from a year earlier. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, active buyers had grown by a mid- to high single-digit percentage each quarter.
The company also said it expected revenue from continuing operations of $2.42 billion to $2.47 billion in the current quarter, with an organic growth rate of 6% to 8%. Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting $2.49 billion.
E-commerce saw massive growth following the onset of the pandemic early last year as homebound folks turned to the internet for their shopping needs. That growth, however, has started to show signs of slowing.
In a call with analysts, eBay Chief Executive Jamie Iannone said the company saw a slowdown when compared with the tremendous growth initially seen in 2020, which was driven by the onset of the pandemic. The marketplace is still seeing positive growth when compared with before the pandemic, he said.
