Shopping.Com Wraps Up Holiday Season 2005

BRISBANE, Calif., Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ — Shopping.com, a leading online comparison shopping service, and one of the most visited retail destinations on the web, today announced traffic and trend data from its busiest holiday season ever.

Seasonal increases in traffic began on November 14 and are expected — with stores offering post-Christmas sales, as well as shoppers redeeming gift cards — to remain strong throughout January. For November and December, Shopping.com experienced close to a 30 percent increase in traffic, year over year.

Additionally, this season has seen significant change in the types of products shopped for on Shopping.com. While early adopter categories, such as consumer electronics, remain popular, in part due to significant price reductions in maturing products such as flat panel TVs and camcorders, the growth is now being seen in “taste-based” products that appeal to a more mainstream audience: home and garden; clothing and accessories; kids and family; sport and outdoors. For example, shoes and kitchen mixers were represented in the Top 50 overall product list on Shopping.com.

A recent Goldman Sachs, Nielsen//NetRatings, and Harris Interactive study found that consumer satisfaction with online shopping is increasing, with 64 percent of those surveyed saying they were satisfied with their experience, compared to 61 percent in 2004. Additionally, according to the same study, online shoppers spent close to $30.1 billion from late October until December 23. This is a 30% increase over the same period in 2004.

Jupiter research reported that the proportion of online consumers who believe that visiting comparison shopping sites is the most efficient way to find products and help decide what to buy rose to 61 percent in 2005 from 45 percent in 2004.

“According to industry data, more consumers than ever before made comparison shopping the first stop for all their online purchases this holiday season, and this was reflected in our traffic as well,” said Lorrie Norrington, president and CEO of Shopping.com. “Comparison-shopping sites have now also become a popular choice for items such as shoes and kitchen appliances, as more mainstream consumers turn to online shopping for all their purchases, not just for digital cameras and MP3 players.”

Traffic on Shopping.com During Holiday 2005

Traffic spikes on Shopping.com began on November 14. Each year, the traffic spike continues to occur earlier and earlier. In 2004, the holiday rush began on November 22.

   — Black Friday (11/25) and Cyber Monday (11/28) showed traffic increases      of approximately 30 percent, year over year.   — Mondays dominated weekday traffic.  Prior to Thanksgiving, Mondays were      the biggest online shopping day of the week; that pattern continued      both on Cyber Monday and the two Monday’s following it.   — Starting with Black Friday 2005, more shoppers visited Shopping.com      each day than the busiest day of 2004.    Product popularity on Shopping.com During Holiday 2005  

With more than 35 million products in 325 categories from thousands of retailers, Shopping.com has a unique lens on how, on when and for what Americans are shopping.

   — Top products overall on Shopping.com this holiday season (November and      December):       – Microsoft Xbox 360      – Sony PlayStation Portable (PSP)      – Canon PowerShot A610      – Apple iPod Nano      – Canon Digital Rebel XT/EOS 350D      – Canon PowerShot A620      – Canon PowerShot A520      – Canon PowerShot SD450/IXUS 55      – Apple iPod Mini      – Nikon D50    — Top products by category on Shopping.com this holiday season (November      and December):       – Clothing and Accessories:  UGG Women’s Classic Tall Boot      – Computers:  Palm TX PDA      – Electronics:  Canon PowerShot A610 Digital Camera      – Health and Beauty:  Braun 8585 Shaver      – Home and Garden:  KitchenAid KSM150PS Artisan Series Mixer      – Jewelry:  Citizen Eco-Drive Aqualand BJ2000-9E Watch      – Kids and Family:  Leapfrog Leapster Multimedia Learning System Toy      – Office:  Texas Instruments TI-89 Titanium Calculator      – Sport and Outdoor:  Fitness Quest Eclipse 1100 HR Elliptical Trainer      – Video Games:  Microsoft Xbox 360 Console    About Shopping.com  

Shopping.com, an eBay company , pioneered online comparison shopping and today is one of the fastest growing shopping destinations on the Internet. With millions of products, thousands of merchants and millions of reviews from the Epinions community, Shopping.com empowers consumers to make informed choices and, as a result, drives much higher conversion to sale and value for merchants.

Shopping.com Ltd.

CONTACT: Michele Husak of Shopping.com, +1-650-616-6518, ormhusak@shopping.com; or Jillian Harkrader of Access Communications,+1-415-844-6234, or jillian@accesspr.com, for Shopping.com

Web site: http://www.shopping.com/