StubHub’s mobile ticket sales surge

StubHub, an online marketplace for buying and selling event tickets, is a primary source of growth in online marketplace revenue at parent company eBay Inc.—and StubHub’s sharpest growth is in mobile sales, StubHub says.

EBay doesn’t break out sales for StubHub, but notes that the tickets marketplace was a major contributor to the 13% year-over-year rise in eBay’s overall e-marketplace net transaction revenue—to $5.43 billion from $4.80 billion—for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2011. “The increase in net transaction revenue and gross merchandise value, excluding vehicles, was due primarily to improvements in the shopping experience, foreign currency movements relative to the U.S. dollar and continued growth at StubHub,” eBay says in the annual financial statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Mobile sales at StubHub, meanwhile, increased 500% in 2011 over 2010, and are expected to account for 10% of total sales this year, up from about 5% last year, a StubHub spokeswoman says.

One reason why mobile is sparking sales, she says, is that mobile phones make it easy for consumers to buy tickets just before a performance or event. “We’re seeing more and more fans buy tickets at the last minute,” she says. She adds that last-minute buying is becoming more popular as consumers have learned that ticket prices often decline just prior to an event, the point at which sellers seek to fill what would otherwise be empty seats.

StubHub operates a mobile-optimized site and has mobile apps for the iPad, iPhone and Android devices. It also sells online at StubHub.com.

Peter Eischeid, mobile product manager, Backcountry.com, will speak about mobile commerce at the Internet Retailer Conference & Exhibition 2012 in June in a session titled “The key to tablet owners’ hearts: apps.” Sean Bartlett, director of mobile strategy and platforms, Lowe’s Inc., will speak at the conference on “How chains can harness the power of mobile phones.”