Alibaba Has One of the Highest Average Revenues per User

ARPU (average revenue per user) measures the value of a company’s users, or customers, in the case of e-commerce companies. In this article, we compare Internet companies on the basis of the value of their users or customers where data is available. It’s important to note that some of these companies break down their ARPU, while others do not.

Alibaba’s (BABA) revenue per monthly active mobile user (or MAU) was 196 yuan (or $29.00) in fiscal 1Q18, up sharply from 140 yuan in the corresponding quarter last year. Alibaba considers Amazon, JD.com, eBay (EBAY), and Baidu among its competitors.

PayPal doesn’t break down its revenue per user, but when we work backward with the figures the company reported, we can calculate how much each customer, or account, is worth to PayPal.

The company reported revenue of a little over $3.1 billion in 2Q17. It had 210 million active accounts during the quarter, which implies that each account brought in $14.93 in revenue for the company in 2Q17.

eBay (EBAY) doesn’t break out its revenue per customer or buyer. However, the company discloses its active buyer base, which can be used to calculate how much revenue each buyer brings in. With $2.3 billion generated in 2Q17 from 171 million active buyers during the quarter, eBay’s average revenue per buyer was $13.60 in 2Q17.

Facebook (FB) reported worldwide ARPU of $4.73 in 2Q17, the highest among its social media rivals. Snap also breaks down its ARPU, which was reported as $1.05 in 2Q17.

Twitter (TWTR) doesn’t disclose its ARPU, but our calculations suggest its ARPU was $1.75 in 2Q17.