NEW YORK, Nov. 23, 2004 - (PromotionWorld.com) - Black Friday hasn't arrived yet, but shoppers appear to be impatient as they already have broken 2003 highs for online shopping visits.
According to Hitwise, the world's leading online competitive intelligence service, shopping and classifieds Web sites claimed 9.27 percent of all U.S. online visits on Nov. 20, 2004, easily breaking the 2003 daily high of 8.96 percent (Nov. 27, 2003). Consumers also broke 2003 weekly shopping visitation highs. Shopping sites claimed 8.37 and 8.02 percent of all Internet visits for the weeks ending Nov. 20th and 13th, respectively, far exceeding the 2003 high of 7.84 percent the week ending Dec. 13th.
"Online shopping appears to be occurring earlier and in greater force than last year," said Bill Tancer, Vice President of Research, Hitwise. "If last year is any indication, we're likely to see weekly shopping levels increase with a peak roughly a week before Christmas."
Shopping Mainstay: Online Comparison Sites Up 22%
The 13 leading comparison-shopping sites increased 22 percent for the week ending Nov. 20, 2004 versus the same week a year ago. While these 13 sites claimed five percent of all shopping visits last week, it is interesting to note that 50 percent of their traffic came directly from major search engines and directories like Google and Yahoo! Search.
"This year's dramatic increase in the use of comparison shopping sites marks a new era in online shopping," said Tancer. "Users are becoming more sophisticated in their online purchase behaviors, clearly demonstrating the willingness to use comparison shopping sites to find the best product at the best price."
The most visited comparison-shopping sites last week were Yahoo! Shopping, www.bizrate.com and www.shopping.com; they claimed 30.9, 18.3 and 15.9 percent, respectively, of all visits to the 13 leading sites. The three fastest growing comparison-shopping sites last week versus a year ago were: www.calibex.com, up 2,221 percent; www.froogle.com, up 270 percent; and www.shopping.com, up 235 percent.
With a few exceptions, the demographics of visitors to comparison-shopping sites mimic those of all Internet users. The sites with the most male visitors are www.pricewatch.com and www.pricegrabber.com; males represent 77 and 58 percent of visitors respectively. MSN's eShop has the most female visitors, at 56 percent. Visitors to www.pricetool.com and www.calibex.com are 31 percent more likely to be over 55 years old.
Weekly Holiday Shopping Tracker
Data period: week ending Nov. 20, 2004 unless specified
· Top growing retail categories last week were: Flowers & Gifts; Computers; Department Stores; Appliances & Electronics and Grocery & Alcohol.
· The fastest growing retail categories versus last year (week ending Nov. 22, 2003) were: Classifieds; Automotive, Auctions, Office Supplies and Grocery & Alcohol.
· Retail was the third most popular online category after Adult (18.1 percent) and Search Engines and Directories (14.0 percent).
· Twenty of the top 25 shopping sites increased in market share of U.S. visits compared to the previous week (ending Nov. 13, 2004).
· Of the leading product-related search terms driving traffic to retail Web sites, "engagement rings" increased the most - climbing from number 29 to number seven.
Top Retail Subcategories by market share of U.S. Visits to Total Shopping Category
Chart: Top 15 Shopping Sites Ranked By % of Total Visits
Hitwise U.S. Data
Top 15 Shopping & Classifieds Web Sites
Rank By Visits for Week Ending 11/20/04
*Does not include stand-alone visits to other eBay sites (My eBay, eBay Motors, eBay Stores)
Contact:
For media inquiries or to schedule an analyst interview, please contact Lizzie Babarczy: press@hitwise.com; (212) 331 1283.
About Hitwise:
Hitwise is the world's leading online competitive intelligence service. Each day, Hitwise monitors how more than 25 million Internet users interact with over 500,000 websites across 160 industry categories.
By monitoring more people, more websites, more often, Hitwise provides marketers with timely and actionable marketing insights on how their online presence compares to competitive websites. Companies use this information to maximize the return on their online investment, in efforts such as affiliate programs, search marketing, online advertising, content development and lead generation.
Hitwise collects Internet usage information via a combination of ISP data partnerships and opt-in mega panels, and complies with local and international privacy legislation as audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Founded in 1997, Hitwise is a privately held company, headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and operates in the USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore.
More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.