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Online holiday
shopping was jollier
Sales up 25 percent over
2003 at $23.2 billion
By Diego Vasquez
Just how this overall holiday shopping
season will end up is still unclear. Yes, sales did spike in the
days before and after Christmas, but they were driven by discounts,
which will leave retailers with higher sales figures but at the
expense of profits.
But online there were no such ambiguities. The season was
expected to do smashingly well, and online retailers beat even those
expectations.
The latest evidence of that came yesterday from the Holiday
eSpending Report from Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and
Nielsen//NetRatings.
U.S. internet shoppers spent $23.2 billion during the 2004
holiday season, which, for the purposes of the report, ran from Nov. 1
through Dec. 26. That marked a 25 percent increase over the $18.5
billion spent online during the same period in 2003, excluding
travel.
Among the top-three online spending categories during the
period were Apparel/Clothing, which accounted for 16 percent of
total online revenue at $3.76 billion, Toys/Video Games with 11
percent and $2.53 billion, and Electronics with 10 percent and $2.31
billion spent.
The 2004 Holiday eSpending Report also outlines the
fastest-growing categories when compared with 2003.
The top three included Jewelry, up 113 percent, from
$888 million in 2003 to $1.88 billion, Flowers, up 59 percent, from
$333 million to $530 million, and Computer Hardware/Peripherals, up
30 percent, from $1.65 billion to $2.14 billion.
Of those surveyed for the 2004 eSpending Report, 36
percent of respondents cited their preference to avoid crowds as the
chief reason they bought online rather than visiting a store.
Similarly, 36 percent cited lower prices as the reason they chose
online over visiting the mall. Almost as many, 33 percent, cited a
wider selection.
|
Top 25
parent companies
Week Ended December 26 |
|
# |
Parent |
Unique
Audience (000) |
Reach % |
Time
spent per person (hh:mm:ss) |
|
1 |
Microsoft |
54,022 |
50.8 |
0:31:42 |
|
2 |
Time Warner |
50,826 |
47.8 |
1:26:54 |
|
3 |
Yahoo! |
47,983 |
45.1 |
0:43:53 |
|
4 |
Google |
26,799 |
25.2 |
0:07:34 |
|
5 |
eBay |
16,498 |
15.5 |
0:41:29 |
|
6 |
Amazon |
10,362 |
9.7 |
0:09:49 |
|
7 |
United States Government |
10,325 |
9.7 |
0:09:11 |
|
8 |
RealNetworks |
9,968 |
9.4 |
0:18:03 |
|
9 |
Ask Jeeves |
8,996 |
8.5 |
0:11:19 |
|
10 |
United Online |
8,881 |
8.4 |
0:26:53 |
|
11 |
Walt Disney Internet
Group |
8,396 |
7.9 |
0:21:07 |
|
12 |
Landmark Communications |
8,321 |
7.8 |
0:07:04 |
|
13 |
Viacom International |
7,186 |
6.8 |
0:18:11 |
|
14 |
InterActiveCorp |
6,889 |
6.5 |
0:09:40 |
|
15 |
AWS Convergence
Technologies |
6,372 |
6.0 |
0:09:21 |
|
16 |
Network Associates |
5,992 |
5.6 |
0:10:24 |
|
17 |
CNET Networks |
5,851 |
5.5 |
0:06:37 |
|
18 |
Apple Computer |
5,320 |
5.0 |
0:21:33 |
|
19 |
Wal-Mart Stores |
5,300 |
5.0 |
0:08:04 |
|
20 |
Verizon Communications |
5,207 |
4.9 |
0:10:19 |
|
21 |
Comcast |
4,633 |
4.4 |
0:16:50 |
|
22 |
EarthLink |
4,590 |
4.3 |
0:26:49 |
|
23 |
Intermix Media |
4,571 |
4.3 |
0:17:44 |
|
24 |
About-Primedia |
4,518 |
4.3 |
0:03:27 |
|
25 |
Gorilla Nation Media |
4,489 |
4.2 |
0:06:58 |
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
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Top 25
brands
Week Ended December 26 |
|
|
Parent |
Unique
Audience (000) |
Reach % |
Time
spent per person (hh:mm:ss) |
|
1 |
Yahoo! |
47,074 |
44.3 |
0:44:38 |
|
2 |
MSN |
41,185 |
38.7 |
0:27:01 |
|
3 |
AOL |
40,656 |
38.2 |
1:41:55 |
|
4 |
Microsoft |
39,030 |
36.7 |
0:15:21 |
|
5 |
Google |
26,283 |
24.7 |
0:07:25 |
|
6 |
eBay |
16,116 |
15.2 |
0:40:06 |
|
7 |
Real |
9,690 |
9.1 |
0:17:47 |
|
8 |
Amazon |
8,912 |
8.4 |
0:09:31 |
|
9 |
Weather Channel |
8,184 |
7.7 |
0:06:59 |
|
10 |
WeatherBug |
6,314 |
5.9 |
0:09:23 |
|
11 |
McAfee |
5,975 |
5.6 |
0:10:25 |
|
12 |
Apple |
5,320 |
5.0 |
0:21:33 |
|
13 |
CNN |
5,081 |
4.8 |
0:09:21 |
|
14 |
Netscape |
4,952 |
4.7 |
0:10:06 |
|
15 |
MapQuest |
4,834 |
4.5 |
0:07:02 |
|
16 |
Wal-Mart Stores |
4,807 |
4.5 |
0:07:41 |
|
17 |
Gorilla Nation Media |
4,489 |
4.2 |
0:06:58 |
|
18 |
Intermix Media |
4,451 |
4.2 |
0:18:12 |
|
19 |
Lycos Network |
4,341 |
4.1 |
0:03:50 |
|
20 |
Comcast |
4,264 |
4.0 |
0:17:46 |
|
21 |
About.com |
4,042 |
3.8 |
0:03:16 |
|
22 |
EA Online |
4,005 |
3.8 |
1:13:18 |
|
23 |
EarthLink |
3,603 |
3.4 |
0:24:59 |
|
24 |
Bank of America |
3,584 |
3.4 |
0:21:06 |
|
25 |
ESPN |
3,559 |
3.4 |
0:19:54 |
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
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Top 25
advertisers
(excludes house ads)
Week Ended December 26 |
|
# |
Company |
Impressions (000) |
|
1 |
SBC Communications |
440,149 |
|
2 |
Verizon Communications |
392,416 |
|
3 |
LowerMyBills.com |
347,361 |
|
4 |
InterActiveCorp |
337,411 |
|
5 |
Dell Computer Corporation |
311,159 |
|
6 |
Ford Motor Company |
302,839 |
|
7 |
NetQuote/Auto Insurance Shopper |
301,546 |
|
8 |
Netflix |
293,905 |
|
9 |
Orbitz |
269,896 |
|
10 |
Time Warner |
245,121 |
|
11 |
eBay |
240,012 |
|
12 |
AT&T Wireless Services |
233,949 |
|
13 |
General Electric Company |
226,095 |
|
14 |
Vonage Holdings |
212,016 |
|
15 |
Scottrade |
208,660 |
|
16 |
Citigroup |
189,847 |
|
17 |
Deutsche Telekom AG |
172,893 |
|
18 |
MatchNet plc |
171,516 |
|
19 |
Best Buy |
171,268 |
|
20 |
Altria Grou |
165,400 |
|
21 |
United Online, |
164,141 |
|
22 |
Ameritrade Holding Corporation |
156,863 |
|
23 |
BellSouth Corporation |
156,421 |
|
24 |
Viacom |
146,374 |
|
25 |
Hyatt Hotels Corporation |
145,540 |
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
AdRelevance |
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Top 25
advertising sites
(excludes house ads)
Week Ended December 26 |
|
|
Company |
Impressions (000) |
|
1 |
Yahoo! |
4,333,761 |
|
2 |
MSN |
2,157,566 |
|
3 |
AOL.com |
402,969 |
|
4 |
myspace |
396,903 |
|
5 |
Juno |
383,950 |
|
6 |
iWon |
378,328 |
|
7 |
CNN |
339,521 |
|
8 |
The Weather Channel |
320,531 |
|
9 |
eBay |
315,257 |
|
10 |
NetZero |
309,803 |
|
11 |
FOXNEWS.COM |
302,296 |
|
12 |
ESPN.com |
284,375 |
|
13 |
Excite |
275,559 |
|
14 |
New York Times |
258,659 |
|
15 |
The Weather Underground |
191,058 |
|
16 |
About.com |
188,944 |
|
17 |
EarthLink |
187,639 |
|
18 |
MSNBC |
175,464 |
|
19 |
Classmates |
165,066 |
|
20 |
Netscape |
142,135 |
|
21 |
CollegeHumor |
120,734 |
|
22 |
IMDb |
116,809 |
|
23 |
Pogo |
108,092 |
|
24 |
Realtor.com |
107,919 |
|
25 |
Food Network |
104,148 |
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Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
AdRelevance |
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Average
use
Week Ended December 26 |
|
|
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Current Week |
Last Week |
% Change |
|
Sessions/Visits per Person |
11 |
12 |
-8.33 |
|
Domains Visited per Person |
21 |
22 |
-4.55 |
|
PC Time per Person |
8:20:30 |
8:48:01 |
-5.21 |
|
Active Digital Media Universe |
106,788,618 |
108,341,614 |
-1.43 |
|
Current Digital Media Universe Estimate |
197,895,826 |
197,895,621 |
0.00 |
|
Source: Nielsen//Net
Ratings AdRelevance |
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Jan 4, 2005
©
2005
Media Life
- Diego Vasquez is a staff writer
for Media Life.
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