In the final three months of 2016 there was a solid 3.1 per cent increase in revenues generated by e-commerce auction giant eBay, according to Reuters.

The reporting of this solid performance earlier in the week helped shares in the firm to rise in value by eight per cent, with investors and analysts heartened to see that the core elements of its operations were growing.

Major efforts have been made to alter eBay’s platform for safe shopping online so that it stands a better chance of facing off against Amazon, which remains a dominant force in this market both in the UK and internationally.

As well as revamping the design of its site, with clearer information about products being made available to visitors, eBay has endeavoured to move away from the flexible auction format that helped it to rise to prominence in the first place and instead embrace a more traditional, rigid approach to pricing.

Industry analyst Colin Gillis said that the retailer was shifting its priorities and reimagining itself for the modern era of safe shopping online, rather than remaining beholden to the things which made it a hit in the 1990s but are much less relevant today.

Of course, the fourth quarter of any year is always a strong one for retailers because of the heightened sales activity which goes hand in hand with the Christmas break. Furthermore, shoppers in the UK will no doubt have been aware of eBay’s major advertising push to present itself as the best place to pick up perfect gifts for loved ones.

Whether it can sustain this growth remains to be seen, although it is undoubtedly a brand which still holds a lot of impact in this marketplace, even if its underlying services are going to change.