Jewelry, Luxury Goods Turn to Gold for Online Retailers This Holiday Season

Big-Ticket Items Drive Fast-Growing Retail Categories in Comscore MMX November Data

RESTON, VA, December 19, 2005 –Retail Jewelry and Luxury Goods sites grew faster than any Internet category in November 2005, according to the latest monthly analysis from Comscore MMX. While many retail subcategories saw significant growth thanks to the start of the holiday shopping season, Jewelry and Luxury Goods led the list of top gaining categories with 39-percent growth over October 2005, yielding 16.4 million visitors in November.

“Consumers are investing an increasing amount of trust and discretionary dollars in the Web, as evidenced by the growth of sites where big ticket items are sold,” said Peter Daboll, president and CEO of Comscore MMX. “While sales on luxury goods sites are significant, most visitors use these sites to research a potential offline purchase, making it critically important for retailers to showcase their offerings online for current and future customers.”

Major winners within the Retail – Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories category were Coach.com, which topped the category with 2.71 million unique visitors, and Zales.com (1.72 million unique visitors), which used a heavy holiday advertising push to entice consumers.

November is traditionally a strong month for retail sites and 2005 was no different. Nine of the Top Ten Gaining Categories and seven of the Top Ten Gaining Properties were related to retail.

AROUND THE WEB
Seasons Greetings Sent Online – The Services – eCards category was the second-highest gaining category in November 2005, rising 26 percent to 50.2 million unique visitors. This follows a peak performance by electronic greeting cards in October when the category ranked as the Web’s highest-gaining category. Once again, American Greetings Property was the star of the category with 28.3 million unique visitors on a 64-percent increase over the previous month. The site’s success can largely be credited to a “disco-dancing turkey” e-card that was widely distributed via e-mail (see Movers & Shakers).

Food Sites Meet Multitude of Consumer Holiday Demands – The Retail – Food category landed among the top ten gaining categories in November with 15.8 million unique visitors, a 22-percent increase over October, as a variety of sites drove the category’s success. Consumers sought edible gifts at Williams-Sonoma.com (1.9 million visitors, up 64 percent) and OmahaSteaks.com (1.5 million visitors, up 152 percent), which finished first and second in the category respectively. Other sites featuring food-related gift arrangements saw extraordinary success, including HickoryFarms.com (493,000 visitors, up 192 percent) and SwissColony.com (469,000 visitors, up 142 percent). Meanwhile, Cooking.com was the category’s third-ranked site with 1.5 million visitors on 68 percent growth, as consumers sought Thanksgiving recipes. Conversely, for those seeking a break from turkey, PapaJohnsOnline.com followed at number four with 1.1 million visitors, up 15 percent from October.

Multi-Channel Retailers Make Early Push For Holiday Shoppers – Retailers featuring a presence online and offline helped the Retail – Department Stores category reach 62.1 million visitors in November on 21-percent growth. The category was carried by Wal-Mart.com, which gained steam from an early holiday advertising push. The mega-retailer received 32.1 million unique visitors in November, up 54 percent from October. The site’s strong performance was boosted by Wal-Mart Movies (6.6 million visitors, up 435 percent) and Wal-Mart Electronics (7.8 million visitors, up 197 percent). Following Wal-Mart in the top position, the Department Store category was carried in November by Target Corporation (27.3 million visitors, up 25 percent), JCPenney Sites (14.8 million visitors, up 35 percent), and Sears.com (12.1 million visitors, up 42 percent).

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

  • Local.com – This local business search and shopping engine saw an astounding 251 percent increase in unique visitors to 4.4 million in November. The site boasts over 16 million business listings with enhanced content, including directions to and from the location, contact information, reviews, and business Web sites.
  • World Wrestling Entertainment – Traffic swarmed to the site over the somber news of wrestler Eddie Guerrero’s untimely death on November 13 at the age of 38. The WWE site featured up-to-date news and commentary regarding his death, as well as a variety of interactive tributes including screensavers, wallpapers, personal interviews, and fan remembrances.
  • American Greetings – The leading e-card destination drew people to the site in November with its popular Thanksgiving greeting featuring a disco-dancing turkey dubbed “Gloria Gobbler” singing a Thanksgiving-themed version of “I Will Survive.” The e-card, which American Greetings said was its most popular in company history, played a large role in attracting more than 28 million people to the site in November.

TABLE 1

Top Ten Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors*
November 2005 vs. October 2005
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Property

Oct-05 (000)

Nov-05 (000)

Percentage Change

Rank by Unique Visitors

Total Internet Population

169,315

169,747

0%

N/A

Local.com

1,258

4,414

251%

183

RadioShack Corporation

1,633

3,287

101%

239

KB Toys

1,778

3,556

100%

223

ShopLocal.com All

5,950

10,599

78%

73

World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

2,434

4,296

76%

188

Toysrus Sites

6,794

11,682

72%

61

Sportingbet PLC

2,259

3,840

70%

210

AmericanGreetings Property

17,251

28,295

64%

14

Best Buy Sites

11,511

18,400

60%

31

Heavy.com

3,632

5,589

54%

147

*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in November 2005

TABLE 2

Top Ten Gaining Categories by Unique Visitors
November 2005 vs. October 2005
Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet Users
Source: Comscore MMX

Oct-05 (000)

Nov-05(000)

Percentage Change

Total Internet Population

169,315

169,747

0%

Retail – Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories

11,809

16,426

39%

Services – e-cards

40,020

50,246

26%

Retail – Movies

23,521

29,019

23%

Retail – Food

12,924

15,815

22%

Retail – Flowers/Gifts/Greetings

39,971

48,630

22%

Retail – Department Stores

51,402

62,089

21%

Retail – Sports/Outdoor

21,061

24,474

16%

Retail – Consumer Electronics

48,553

54,967

13%

Retail – Home Furnishings

31,859

35,826

12%

Retail – Toys

22,213

24,862

12%

TABLE 3

Top 50 Properties
November 2005
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)
Source: Comscore MMX

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Total Internet Users

169,747

1

Yahoo! Sites

125,038

26

OVERSTOCK.COM

20,218

2

MSN-Microsoft Sites

115,526

27

Shopzilla.com Sites

19,590

3

Time Warner Network

114,218

28

Bank of America

19,511

4

Google Sites

90,889

29

Real.com Network

19,183

5

eBay

71,944

30

AT&T Properties

18,949

6

Amazon Sites

49,946

31

Best Buy Sites

18,400

7

Ask Jeeves

42,859

32

Sears Sites

18,376

8

Viacom Online

35,811

33

Trip Network Inc.

17,618

9

Wal-Mart

34,972

34

E.W. Scripps

17,544

10

New York Times Digital

33,886

35

Wikipedia Sites

17,345

11

Verizon Communications Corporation

30,572

36

Comcast Corporation

16,940

12

Walt Disney Internet Group (WDIG)

29,943

37

ESPN

16,779

13

CNET Networks

29,556

38

Weatherbug Property

16,387

14

AmericanGreetings Property

28,295

39

Citysearch

15,681

15

Target Corporation

27,296

40

Dell

15,265

16

United Online, Inc

27,180

41

Infospace Network

15,126

17

Vendare Media

26,984

42

JCPenney Sites

14,844

18

MYSPACE.COM

26,684

43

Earthlink

14,309

19

Weather Channel, The

26,421

44

NFL Internet Group

14,200

20

Lycos, Inc.

25,665

45

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

14,037

21

Expedia Inc

25,494

46

Sony Online

13,845

22

Apple Computer, Inc.

22,742

47

Circuit City Stores, Inc.

13,478

23

Monster Worldwide

22,201

48

Citigroup

13,419

24

Gorilla Nation Media

21,347

49

Capital One

13,301

25

Gannett Sites

20,282

50

CareerBuilder LLC

13,206

TABLE 4

Ad Focus Ranking
November 2005
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)
Source: Comscore MMX

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Rank

Property

Unique Visitors (000)

Reach %

Total Internet Users

169,747

100%

1

Advertising.com**

134,259

79%

26

AMERICANGREETINGS.COM

26,134

15%

2

Yahoo!

122,649

72%

27

Lycos Network

25,625

15%

3

AOL Media Network

107,329

63%

28

Expedia Inc

25,494

15%

4

Fastclick**

105,618

62%

29

WEATHER.COM

24,273

14%

5

MSN

100,824

59%

30

MSNBC

24,069

14%

6

GOOGLE.COM

87,849

52%

31

CNN

21,091

12%

7

AOL

84,563

50%

32

Disney Online

18,517

11%

8

Tribal Fusion**

81,506

48%

33

ESPN

16,779

10%

9

YAHOO.COM Home Page

77,276

46%

34

Mamma Media Solutions**

16,336

10%

10

Vendare Media - TrafficMarketplace**

77,120

45%

35

WeatherBug

16,135

10%

11

Casale Media Network**

76,828

45%

36

CITYSEARCH.COM

15,548

9%

12

24/7 Real Media**

63,462

37%

37

CLASSMATES.COM

15,158

9%

13

EBAY.COM

62,608

37%

38

IMDB.COM

15,010

9%

14

BURST! Media**

62,369

37%

39

CNET

14,856

9%

15

Blue Lithium**

61,489

36%

40

FOX Sports on MSN

14,748

9%

16

ValueClick Media**

60,842

36%

41

CareerBuilder Network

14,679

9%

17

Gorilla Nation Media Network

58,674

35%

42

SuperPages Network

14,628

9%

18

MSN.COM Home Page

53,873

32%

43

BIZRATE.COM

14,371

8%

19

Ask Jeeves

42,859

25%

44

MaxOnline**

14,127

8%

20

EBAY.COM Home Page

40,002

24%

45

CHEAPTICKETS.COM

14,088

8%

21

ABOUT.COM

29,404

17%

46

iVillage.com: The Womens Network

14,037

8%

22

Business.com Network

28,439

17%

47

WebMD Health Network

13,628

8%

23

Vibrant Media

27,172

16%

48

COOLSAVINGS.COM Total Activity

13,518

8%

24

Vendare Media

26,984

16%

49

REAL.COM

13,116

8%

25

MYSPACE.COM

26,684

16%

50

WhitePages Network

12,989

8%

Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that views a particular entity at least once in November. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 72 percent of the over 169 million Internet users in November. The notation “**” indicates that the entity is an advertising network.

About Comscore MMX
Comscore MMX, 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 MMX continues the tradition of quality and innovation established by its MMX 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 MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.

About Comscore Networks
Comscore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior and attitudes. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore explicit 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, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Orbitz. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

Press
Bill Daddi
Daddi Brand Communications
646-370-1341
press@comscore.com