EBay Inc. continued to see strong online demand during the holiday quarter as the California-based online marketplace gained new buyers under the direction of CEO Jamie Iannone, who has been pursuing a roadmap for company growth since taking the helm in 2020.

CFO Andrew Cring said in a Feb. 3 earnings call with analysts that the company had added 11 million buyers since the end of the first quarter of 2020 and is seeing retention rates in line with historical cohorts. EBay enabled $26.6 billion of marketplace gross merchandise volume in the fourth quarter of 2020, up 18% year on year. Meanwhile, eBay's number of active buyers grew to 185 million as of Dec. 31, 2020, up from 174 million buyers a year earlier.

Cring said eBay has made progress on its growth strategy and believes "these efforts will continue to deliver growth as we scale."

Cring's comments come as eBay reported fourth-quarter 2020 net income and sales that beat analysts' expectations, reflecting strong performance during the holiday season.

Iannone said eBay saw record volume with "high velocity in hard-to-find and sold-out items" as well as refurbished gifts, which emerged as a top trend. "We saw many products from top brands in our certified refurbished experience sell out completely," he said. EBay also saw strength in categories such as sneakers and watches.

The company now expects revenue between $2.94 billion and $2.99 billion in the first quarter of 2021.

Iannone took the top role at eBay at a time when the company has struggled to keep pace with other e-commerce players like Amazon.com Inc., which also has seen a strong increase in online demand amid the pandemic.