SAN JOSE, Calif.--()--eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace and a leader in mobile commerce, today announced its third annual “Top Shopped” report1, ranking the pop culture moments and trends that captured shopper’s attention – and cash – in 2011. eBay analyzed sales data based on what people bought across categories on the marketplace to identify what piqued the public’s interest this year--from must-have tech and toys, to pop star divas and celebrity standouts. With more than 200 million daily listings and a community of nearly 100 million users, eBay serves as a unique trend barometer, tracking the moments and movements that mattered most in 2011.
“eBay sales are a direct indicator of what Americans are most fascinated by and uniquely reflects the cultural zeitgeist”
In addition, armed with tablets and smartphones, and millions of eBay listings at their fingertips, people took on-the-go shopping to a whole new level this year. From Mercedes to Hermes Birkin bags, eBay Mobile delivered anytime, anywhere access for shoppers to buy what they wanted – the very moment inspiration strikes.
eBay.com Picks2 for America’s “Top Shopped” and Pop Culture Moments of 2011:
- NFL
- Harry Potter
- Twilight
- Call of Duty
- Green Bay Packers
- iPad
- Sade
- Justin Bieber
- Glee
- Charlie Sheen
Top Three Most Expensive Cross-Category Purchases on eBay Mobile:
- Motors | Mercedes-Benz : S-Class: $212,685
- Fashion | Hermes Blue Sapphire Ostrich Birkin Bag: $19,975
- Collectibles | 1933 Goudey – Babe Ruth #53 PSA Baseball Card: $19,500
America’s 2011 Top Pop Culture Obsessions
Here Come the Brides:2011 was officially the year of the celebrity wedding, but no nuptials compared to the celebration of not one, but two Kates across the pond. It turns out that real royalty trumps fashion royalty – eBay shoppers bought more than double the Kate Middleton-related items (12,583) compared with supermodel Kate Moss (5,913 related items).
Breaking Up Is(n’t)Hard To Do: Of all the celebrities that called it quits in 2011, two ladies known for their curves caused the most public brouhaha. Jennifer Lopez takes the cake with 16,133 related items sold, while eBay shoppers bought 13,023 Kim Kardashian-related items. After all, a fairytale marriage may only last 72 days, but Kim & Kris memorabilia is forever.
Pop Princesses: Whether it’s arriving on the red carpet inside of a semi-transparent egg, or settling down with one of Hollywood’s randiest bachelors, America’s favorite pop singers made quite a splash in 2011. The charts may be neck and neck but eBay shoppers favored Lady Gaga over Katy Perry buying 83,879 Gaga-related items, compared with 65,822 items relating to the “California Gurl”.
Titletown, USA: Not only were more Green Bay Packers related items sold (234,089) than any other professional football team, the NFL (1,837,834 related items sold) was the #1 pop culture obsession on eBay – trumping the NBA, MLB and the NHL. Despite a Super Bowl ring, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers couldn’t compete with America’s long-time love affair with the Yankees – there were 131,250 Derek Jeter-related items sold during 2011, more than any other professional athlete.
Championship rings didn’t seem to matter as much on the basketball court as eBay shoppers were crazy about the Chicago Bulls (120,640 related items sold) during 2011, more so than NBA Finals underdog champions Dallas Mavericks (29,917) who beat out the Miami Heat (50,033) for the league title. Heat star player Lebron James still managed to snag basketball fans’ cash though – eBay shoppers bought 73,601 Lebron-related items.
Vampires, Wizards and Movies, Oh My: America’s obsession with immortals didn’t slow down in 2011 –Twilight(297,330 related items sold)landed near the top of the most coveted items list. It turns out that heartthrob Robert Pattinson is far more popular than his better half, Kristen Stewart – fans bought 11,352 RPatz-related items, but only 4,020 Stewart-related items.
And in terms of sci-fi phenomena, the only thing America loves more than vampires is wizardry – there were 446,915 Harry Potter-related items sold during 2011.
Retro Glamour: Between “Mad Men” and “Pan Am”, the small screen has never been so blessed with pitch perfect vintage style. And despite its mid-season cancellation, shoppers were still inspired by Pan Am, flocking to eBay to snatch up related items – 41,003 in total. Mad Men (30,378 related items sold) may have more seasons under its belt, but when it comes to memorabilia, the coolest fictional ad agency in the world can’t compete with the romanticism of 1960s air travel.
Only one TV series could give these period pieces a run for their money and it turned out that modern drama trumps even the best evocative productions -- “Gleeks” bought 59,899 worth of “Glee”-related items during 2011.
iPlay Video Games: Of all the toys and tech gear America went crazy for in 2011, only a video game could trump those must-have Apple products. Call of Duty (272,821 related items sold) was more coveted than the iPad (215,412 related items sold, iPod Nano (144,238 related items sold) and even the iPhone 4S (22,657 related items sold).
What’s Old Is New Again: Justin Bieber may have a haircut named after him, but that still doesn’t mean the teen dream can compete with a true “Smooth Operator.” With the release of a new album and worldwide tour schedule, fans flocked to eBay for all things Sade (156,395 items sold) – comparatively, fans bought 156,092 Bieber Fever-related items.
Boys Club: Of all the Hollywood scandals, Charlie Sheen and Ashton Kutcher undoubtedly scored the most headlines in 2011. Both caused quite a stir on Twitter, but Sheen – with his goddesses, tiger blood and infamous interviews trumped Demi’s former better half by far -- eBay shoppers bought 22,480 Sheen-related items, compared to only 2,260 Ashton-related items.
Key Quote
“eBay sales are a direct indicator of what Americans are most fascinated by and uniquely reflects the cultural zeitgeist,” said Karen Bard Sayah, eBay Spokesperson. “From the latest video games and tech devices, to royal wedding memorabilia and ‘Winning’ t-shirts, shoppers know that whatever it is they’re coveting, they can find it on eBay.”
Tags/Keywords:
eBay, eBay Inc., mobile commerce, pop culture, 2011 trends, celebrities, Charlie Sheen, Justin Bieber, NFL, Sade, Green Bay Packers, Lady Gaga, Glee, Twilight, Harry Potter, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, iPad, Call of Duty, Kate Middleton, Kate Moss
About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) is about enabling commerce. We do so through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, which allows users to buy and sell in nearly every country on earth; through PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments; and through GSI, which facilitates ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises. X.commerce brings together the technology assets and developer communities of eBay, PayPal and Magento, an ecommerce platform, to support eBay Inc.’s mission of enabling commerce. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.
1 Data is based on U.S. eBay listings that included the key terms in the listing title across all categories from Jan. 1, 2011, to Dec. 1, 2011.
2 eBay’s “Top Shopped” picks were culled from items pertaining to pop culture phenomena across multiple categories.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50111978&lang=en
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