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Holiday Fever Drives Traffic to Shopping Sites in December

Posted on: Tuesday, 16 January 2007, 12:00 CST

RESTON, Va., Jan. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore Media Metrix today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties and categories for December 2006. The month was dominated by pre-holiday shopping as nine of the top 10 gaining categories during the month were retail- oriented, led by luxury goods, postage, and e-cards. Overall non-travel (retail) e-commerce spending increased 26 percent this holiday season versus 2005 to a record-setting $24.6 billion. Amid the holiday frenzy, Americans also began to focus on tax planning, as evidenced by a 17-percent increase in visitation to the Tax category versus November, The Tax category rose to 7.5 million visitors, led by IRS.gov with 4.4 million visitors (up 25 percent).

"Consumers gave e-tailers reason to celebrate during December, with huge increases in e-commerce spending and visitation," said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "Experiencing 26 percent growth, e-commerce was certainly retail's bright spot this holiday season."

Shopping, Shopping and More Shopping

Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories was the top gaining category in December (see Table 2), growing 21-percent for the second consecutive month to 21.9 million visitors. Redenvolope.com led the category with 2.9 million visitors (up 19 percent), followed by Coach.com with 2.9 million visitors (up 25 percent), and Zales.com with 2 million visitors (up 45 percent). The biggest gainer in the category was Fossil.com, which rose 56-percent to 663,000 visitors.

Other top gaining retail categories included: -- Shipping, up 19 percent overall to 34.6 million visitors. UPS Sites led the category with 17.4 million visitors (up 26 percent), followed by USPS.com with 15.9 million visitors (up 21 percent), and Fedex.com with 11.3 million visitors (up 15 percent). -- E-cards, up 15 percent overall to 45.1 million visitors. AmericanGreetings Property led the E-card category with 12 million visitors, followed by Hallmark.com with 8.1 million visitors (up 24 percent) and Evite.com with 7.3 million visitors (up 4 percent). 123Greetings.com was the Web's second fastest gaining site overall, rising 82-percent to 7.1 million visitors (see Table 1). -- Sports/Outdoor, up 15 percent overall to 32.6 million visitors. Foot Locker Sites led the category with 4.7 million visitors (up 30 percent), followed by eBay Sports U.S. with 4.3 million visitors (up 7 percent), and Cabelas Inc. with 3.8 million visitors (up 4 percent). CBSSportsStore.com experienced the highest gains within the Sports/Outdoor category, increasing 71-percent to 576,000 visitors. -- Retail-Food, up 11 percent overall to 17.2 million visitors. Omahasteaks.com led the category in visitation and growth rate, with 2.1 million visitors (up 157 percent), followed by Papajohnsonline.com with 1.4 million visitors (up 33 percent), and Cooking.com with 1.2 million visitors. -- Retail-Movies, up 11 percent overall with 28.2 million visitors. Netflix.com led the category with 10.1 million visitors (up 2 percent), followed by Blockbuster Inc. with 6.4 million visitors (up 21 percent), and Columbia House Sites with 4.1 million visitors (up 7 percent). Flixster.com was the top gaining site in the Retail-Movies category, jumping 124-percent to 1 million visitors. -- Retail-Music, up 10 percent overall to 29 million visitors. Barnes & Noble led the category with 8.8 million visitors (up 34 percent), followed by BMG Music Service with 4.4 million visitors (up 1 percent), and CDUniverse.com with 3.1 million visitors (up 7 percent). Trans World Entertainment was the top gaining site in the category, up 71 percent to 1.1 million visitors. -- Computer Hardware, up 9 percent overall to 66 million visitors. Apple Computer, Inc. led the category with 39.4 million visitors (up 17 percent), followed by Hewlett Packard with 14 million visitors (up 7 percent), and Dell with 13 million visitors. 4Inkjets.com was the top gaining site in the Computer Hardware category, surging 247 percent to 1.2 million visitors. -- Apparel, up 8 percent overall to 61.9 million visitors. Limitedbrands led the category with 11.9 million visitors (up 26 percent), followed by OldNavy.com with 6.9 million visitors (up 13 percent), and Nordstrom.com with 5.9 million visitors (up 17 percent). Finishline.com was the fastest growing site in the category, rising 33 percent to 2.1 million visitors. Top 50 Properties

In December, Yahoo! Sites retained its number one ranking with more than 131 million unique visitors, while Amazon Sites and Viacom Digital each moved up one spot to rank seventh and tenth, respectively. The holiday season saw Best Buy Sites jump nine spots, attracting more than 24 million unique visitors, and both UPS Sites and Toysrus Sites entered the Top 50, ranking 36th and 49th, respectively. Also entering the ranking this month were Yellowpages.com Network, drawing just over 16 million visitors, and JPMorgan Chase Property with just over 15 million visitors.

Top 50 Ad Focus

December saw Advertising.com retain its number one position in the Ad- Focus Ranking, reaching more than 149 million Americans online. AOL Media Network inched up a spot to rank fifth, connecting with 64 percent of the U.S. online population, while Blue Lithium moved up three positions to rank seventh. DRIVEpm and Facebook.com both enjoyed large increases, each gaining six spots in the ranking 15th and 38th, respectively. Finally, WhitePages Network, Photobucket.com, and ARTISTdirect Network all re-entered the Top 50 Ad Focus in December, ranking 43rd, 45th, and 49th, respectively.

TABLE 1 Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* December 2006 vs. November 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix Property Nov-06 Dec-06 Percentage Rank by (000) (000) Change Unique Visitors Total Internet Population 173,686 174,199 0% N/A RDA Digital Network 1,978 9,441 377 94 123GREETINGS.COM 3,889 7,090 82 137 Borders Group, Inc. 2,127 3,745 76 248 OfficeMax 3,090 5,130 66 184 Yellowpages.com Network 10,742 16,168 51 45 Coca-Cola Company 2,630 3,937 50 237 The Away Network 2,702 3,839 42 244 LOCAL.COM 6,093 8,585 41 110 Primedia Inc. 6,613 8,913 35 104 Barnes & Noble 6,584 8,834 34 106 *Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December 2006. TABLE 2 Top 10 Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors December 2006 vs. November 2006 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users Source: comScore Media Metrix Nov-06 Dec-06 Percentage (000) (000) Change Total Internet: Total Audience 173,686 174,199 0% Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories 18,134 21,903 21% Shipping 29,125 34,640 19% Taxes 6,403 7,505 17% e-cards 39,317 45,132 15% Sports/Outdoor 28,455 32,623 15% Retail - Food 15,470 17,174 11% Retail - Movies 25,421 28,173 11% Retail - Music 26,316 28,975 10% Computer Hardware 60,380 65,938 9% Apparel 57,132 61,855 8% TABLE 3 Top 50 Properties December 2006 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Media Metrix Rank Property Unique Visitors Rank Property Unique Visitors (000) (000) Total Internet Users 174,199 1 Yahoo! Sites 131,443 26 Shopzilla.com Sites 22,902 2 Time Warner Network 120,980 27 Bank of America 22,674 3 Microsoft Sites 116,506 28 Lycos, Inc. 22,598 4 Google Sites 112,845 29 Sears Sites 22,229 5 eBay 84,266 30 Real.com Network 20,663 6 Fox Interactive Media 73,273 31 Expedia Inc 19,429 7 Amazon Sites 56,766 32 FACEBOOK.COM 19,105 8 Ask Network 55,572 33 OVERSTOCK.COM 18,874 9 Wal-Mart 44,120 34 Comcast Corporation 18,716 10 Viacom Digital 40,042 35 Gannett Sites 18,167 11 Apple Computer, Inc. 39,416 36 UPS Sites 17,386 12 New York Times Digital 39,242 37 ESPN 17,095 13 Wikipedia Sites 38,585 38 Circuit City Stores, Inc. 16,960 14 Verizon Communications Corp. 34,481 39 JCPenney Sites 16,933 15 Target Corporation 34,325 40 Photobucket.com LLC 16,735 16 Weather Channel, The 32,606 41 WhitePages 16,688 17 CNET Networks 31,969 42 E.W. Scripps 16,235 18 Adobe Sites 25,851 43 Yellowpages.com Network 16,168 19 Gorilla Nation Media 25,449 44 NFL Internet Group 16,051 20 Disney Online 25,049 45 Weatherbug Property 16,006 21 Best Buy Sites 24,674 46 USPS.COM 15,922 22 AT&T, Inc. 23,833 47 ARTISTdirect Network 15,484 23 United Online, Inc 23,290 48 EA Online 15,300 24 CBS Corporation 23,164 49 Toysrus Sites 15,237 25 Monster Worldwide 23,078 50 JPMorgan Chase Property 15,051 TABLE 4 Ad Focus Ranking December 2006 Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations Unique Visitors (000) Source: comScore Media Metrix Unique Unique Visitors Reach Visitors Reach Rank Property (000) % Rank Property (000) % Total Internet Users 174,199 100% 1 Advertising.com** 149,103 86% 26 MSN.COM Home Page 51,152 29% 2 ValueClick** 132,159 76% 27 EBAY.COM Home Page 47,478 27% 3 Yahoo! 129,876 75% 28 ContextWeb** 47,462 27% 4 Tribal Fusion** 122,191 70% 29 Vibrant Media** 41,928 24% 5 AOL Media Network 111,614 64% 30 ABOUT.COM 34,517 20% 6 Casale Media Network** 111,510 64% 31 Undertone Networks** 32,276 19% 7 Blue Lithium** 108,458 62% 32 YOUTUBE.COM 29,597 17% 8 Vendare NetBlue - TrafficMarketplace** 108,457 62% 33 Business.com Network 26,852 15% 9 Google 106,382 61% 34 Disney Online 25,049 14% 10 MSN-Windows Live 97,681 56% 35 Lycos Network 22,432 13% 11 Burst Media** 94,534 54% 36 WEATHER.COM 21,947 13% 12 24/7 Real Media** 93,358 54% 37 CNN 19,481 11% 13 AOL 92,021 53% 38 FACEBOOK.COM 19,105 11% 14 YAHOO.COM Home Page 88,756 51% 39 GameDaily Custom Network 18,708 11% 15 DRIVEpm** 83,495 48% 40 IMDB.COM 18,238 10% 16 EBAY.COM 76,035 44% 41 The WebMD Health Network 17,183 10% 17 Tremor Media 69,266 40% 42 ESPN 17,095 10% 18 AdBrite** 68,644 39% 43 WhitePages Network 16,628 10% 19 PrecisionClick** 66,704 38% 44 REAL.COM* 16,249 9% 20 Gorilla Nation Media Network 63,260 36% 45 PHOTOBUCKET.COM 15,988 9% 21 MYSPACE.COM 60,887 35% 46 BIZRATE.COM 15,940 9% 22 EuroClick** 60,565 35% 47 SuperPages 15,861 9% 23 Ask Network 55,572 32% 48 WeatherBug 15,491 9% 24 AdDynamix.com** 53,135 31% 49 ARTISTdirect Network 15,484 9% 25 CPX Interactive** 51,497 30% 50 EA Online Syndicated Games 15,343 9% Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in December. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 75 percent of the more than 174 million Internet users in December. * Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities. ** Denotes an advertising network. About comScore Media Metrix

comScore Media Metrix, a division of comScore Networks, provides industry- leading Internet audience measurement services that report - with unmatched accuracy - details of online media usage, visitor demographics and online buying power for the home, work and university audiences across local U.S. markets and across the globe. comScore Media Metrix continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its Media Metrix syndicated Internet ratings - long recognized as the currency in online media measurement among financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers - while drawing upon comScore's advanced technologies to address important new industry requirements. All comScore Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

About comScore Networks

comScore Networks is a global leader in measuring the digital age. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given comScore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. comScore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, comScore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. comScore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. comScore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestle, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com/ .

comScore Networks, Inc.

CONTACT: Michael Rubin of comScore Networks, Inc., +1-312-775-6538,press@comscore.com

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

Source: PRNewswire

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