RESTON, VA comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital
world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. Web activity at the
top-growing properties and site categories for December 2009 based on data from
the comScore Media Metrix service. Americans continued to flock to Retail sites
in December as the online holiday shopping season reached a crescendo, while
holiday festivities caused a surge in traffic to Flowers/Gifts/Greetings and
e-Card sites. As many Americans raced to ensure delivery of their holiday gifts
in time, shipping sites climbed to a 2009 high in visitation.
December proved to be a strong month for the retail category with Tuesday, Dec.
15 ranking as the heaviest online spending day of the year and of all time
at $913 million, said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media
Metrix. Holiday seasonality also fueled visitation to Shipping sites, which
continually see their highest volume of traffic during the month of December.
Holiday Shopping Continues to Spur Growth at Retail Sites
Retail sites continued to climb in December as Americans scoured the Web for
deals this holiday season. Among the top-gaining Retail sub-categories were
Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories, Sports/Outdoor, and Flowers/Gifts/Greetings
sites, each growing more than 20 percent versus November. Jewelry/Luxury
Goods/Accessories sites attracted nearly 23 million visitors during the month,
representing a 30-percent increase from November. eBags, Inc. led the category
with 2.9 million visitors (up 28 percent), followed by Coach.com with 2.2
million visitors (up 26 percent), Zale Corporation with 2.1 million (up 48
percent) and Kay Jewelers with 1.7 million (up 69 percent).
Sports/Outdoor sites grew to nearly 39 million visitors during the month, a
25-percent increase versus November, led by eBay Sports U.S. with 5.1 million
visitors (up 21 percent), which was closely followed by Cabelas, Inc. with 5.0
million visitors (up 26 percent). DicksSportingGoods.com grabbed the #3 position
with 4.6 million visitors (up 39 percent), followed by SportsAuthority.com with
2.9 million visitors (up 29 percent).
Flowers/Gifts/Greetings sites saw a 23-percent gain, reaching nearly 39.8
million unique visitors in December. AmericanGreetings Property led the category
with 13.6 million visitors (up 18 percent), followed by Gifts.com with 6.8
million (up 49 percent), Hallmark with 5.6 million (up 46 percent) and
1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. with 2.9 million (up 48 percent).
Tax Sites Grow as Season Nears
Tax sites ranked as the top-gaining category during the month with nearly 6.4
million visitors, up 54 percent from November, as Americans began early
preparation for tax season.
Americans Rely on Shipping and e-Card Sites for Holiday To-Do’s
Traffic to Shipping sites spiked in December as Americans rushed to ensure
delivery of their gift purchases in time for the holidays. The category
attracted 36.6 million visitors during the month, representing a 33-percent
increase in traffic. UPS Sites led the category with 19.7 million visitors (up
51 percent), followed by USPS.com with 15.9 million (up 40 percent) and FedEx
with 12.6 million (up 36 percent).
e-Card Sites were a popular way to send holiday cheer in December, with the
category growing 29 percent to 31.7 million visitors. Among the most visited
were Evite.com with nearly 8 million visitors (up 16 percent), AG interactive
with 6.7 million (up 46 percent), MyFunCards.com with 5.7 million, and
123Greetings.com with 4.3 million (up 55 percent).
Table 1
| comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.) December 2009 vs. November 2009 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix |
||||
| Total Unique Visitors (000) |
||||
| Nov-09 |
Dec-09 |
% Change |
Rank by Unique Visitors |
|
| Total Internet : Total Audience |
201,139 |
205,709 |
2 |
N/A |
| FAMILYLINK.COM | 2,590 | 6,273 | 142 | 222 |
| JibJab Media | 4,686 | 10,892 | 132 | 129 |
| Eastman Kodak | 5,116 | 9,030 | 77 | 160 |
| UPS Sites | 13,091 | 19,715 | 51 | 63 |
| GIFTS.COM | 4,557 | 6,797 | 49 | 211 |
| Ganz | 4,822 | 7,047 | 46 | 207 |
| Nintendo Co. | 3,935 | 5,750 | 46 | 241 |
| Wenner Media | 5,338 | 7,790 | 46 | 185 |
| Healthline Networks | 8,094 | 11,799 | 46 | 120 |
| Hallmark | 3,881 | 5,649 | 46 | 248 |
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December 2009. Excludes
entities whose growth was primarily due to implementation of Media Metrix 360
hybrid audience measurement.
Table 2
| comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.) December 2009 vs. November 2009 Total U.S. Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix |
|||
| Total Unique Visitors (000) |
|||
| Nov-09 |
Dec-09 |
% Change |
|
| Total Internet : Total Audience |
201,139 |
205,709 |
2 |
| Business/Finance – Taxes | 4,151 | 6,377 | 54 |
| Directories/Resources – Shipping |
27,451 | 36,622 | 33 |
| Retail – Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories |
17,662 | 22,955 | 30 |
| Services – e-Cards | 24,692 | 31,748 | 29 |
| Retail – Sports/Outdoor | 31,208 | 38,925 | 25 |
| Retail – Flowers/Gifts/Greetings |
32,302 | 39,788 | 23 |
| News/Information – Weather |
68,321 | 81,095 | 19 |
| Travel – Transactions | 2,824 | 3,313 | 17 |
| Retail – Toys | 27,384 | 31,635 | 16 |
| Retail – Movies | 26,586 | 30,554 | 15 |
comScore will be excluding the Top 50 Properties and the Top 50 Ad-Focus
rankings until May 2010 when the hybrid transition period concludes.
About comScore Media Metrix
comScore Media Metrix provides industry-leading Internet audience measurement
services that report 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 reports are used by
financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. comScore
Media Metrix syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling
methodologies.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world
and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information,
please visit
www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Source:
comScore
