In Australia, Online Retail Sites See Traffic Surge in December

Apple.com Worldwide Sites Ranks as Top Retail Destination in Australia, Followed by Amazon and Coles Group

Sydney, Australia, January 27, 2010 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on traffic to top Retail sites in Australia during the 2009 holiday season. The study found that three out of five Australians online visited a Retail site in December, as traffic to the category reached its highest volume of the year with more than 8 million visitors during the month.

“December continues to be the heaviest month for visitation to retail sites as the holiday shopping season reaches its pinnacle,” said Will Hodgman, Comscore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. “The online channel is an increasingly important component of retailers’ holiday strategies with a growing number of consumers turning to the Web for comparison shopping and purchasing convenience.”

Holiday Shopping Fuels Traffic Growth at Largest Online Retailers

More than 8 million Australians visited a Retail site in December 2009, representing a 3-percent increase versus year ago. The category was led by Apple.com Worldwide Sites with more than 3 million visitors, a 63-percent increase, fueled by continued growth at the Apple Store site which was visited by more than 1 million Australians. Amazon Sites followed as the second most visited retail destination with 2.5 million visitors, up 28 percent from the previous year. Coles Group Ltd., which includes Kmart.com.au, Target.com.au and Coles.com.au among other sites, ranked third with 1.3 million visitors (up 30 percent), followed by Woolworths Limited with 1.2 million visitors (up 48 percent).

Top 10 Retail Sites in Australia Based on Unique Visitors
December 2009 vs. December 2008
Total Australia Internet Audience – Age 15+, Home & Work Locations*
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Dec-2008

Dec-2009

% Change

Total Internet : Total Audience

11,696

13,040

11

Retail

7,920

8,123

3

Apple.com Worldwide Sites

1,873

3,050

63

Amazon Sites

1,994

2,544

28

Coles Group Ltd

1,005

1,304

30

Woolworths Limited

817

1,210

48

Shopping.com Sites

971

1,036

7

GETPRICE.COM.AU

381

652

71

MYSHOPPING.COM.AU

281

475

69

DEALSDIRECT.COM.AU

457

452

-1

Dell

284

448

58

AmericanGreetings Property

445

443

0

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Top 10 Retail Subcategories

Computer Hardware ranked as the most-visited Retail subcategory in December with nearly 4 million visitors led by traffic to Apple sites. Comparison Shopping sites followed with 2.7 million visitors, up 16 percent from the previous year, as Web users sought product information and holiday deals. Shopping.com Sites led the Comparison Shopping category in visitation, with significant growth experienced at both GetPrice.com.au and MyShopping.com.au. Other subcategories to see substantial increases in visitation included Computer Software (up 46 percent), Apparel (up 41 percent), Department Stores (up 30 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 28 percent).

Top 10 Retail Subcategories in Australia Based on Unique Visitors
December 2009 vs. December 2008
Total Australia Internet Audience – Age 15+, Home & Work Locations*
Source: Comscore World Metrix

Total Unique Visitors (000)

Dec-2008

Dec-2009

% Change

Retail

7,920

8,123

3

Computer Hardware

4,384

3,926

-10

Comparison Shopping

2,305

2,665

16

Computer Software

1,100

1,604

46

Apparel

1,064

1,500

41

Department Stores

1,090

1,411

30

Consumer Electronics

1,088

1,394

28

Tickets

974

862

-11

Flowers/Gifts/Greetings

759

766

1

Sports/Outdoor

609

736

21

Retail - Food

438

582

33

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

About Comscore

Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

Contact:
Sarah Radwanick
Director, Regional Product Marketing
Comscore, Inc.
+44 (0) 20 7099 1784
worldpress@comscore.com