Retail Sites Post Second Consecutive Month of Strong Gains During Holiday Shopping Season
RESTON, VA, January 15, 2008 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its monthly analysis of U.S. consumer activity at top online properties for December 2007 from the Comscore MMX service. The month saw increased traffic to retail sites, shipping sites, and weather sites.
“While the online holiday shopping promotions begin in earnest in November, the heaviest shopping and online spending actually occurs in December,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of Comscore MMX. “With shipping date guarantees extending later and in-store pickup options available, online holiday shopping is becoming increasingly conducive to the procrastinator.”
Retail Sites Swell Before Holidays
Holiday shopping resulted in several retail categories experiencing significant growth during the month. The fragrances/cosmetics category climbed 30 percent to 21.5 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for December, led by BathandBodyWorks.com with 4.4 million visitors (up 27 percent) and Sephora.com with 4.1 million visitors (up 41 percent).
The consumer goods category once again saw significant growth for the second consecutive month, gaining 23 percent to nearly 36 million visitors. OfficeMax led the category with 15.3 million visitors, up 170 percent from the previous month, with much of the growth generated by the popular Office Max branded viral holiday greeting siteElfYourSelf.com. OfficeMax also claimed the top-gaining property position for the month. Other consumer goods sites achieving growth included QVC Sites, up 3 percent to 6.1 million visitors, and retailer Hammacher Schlemmer’s site Hammacher.com, up 9 percent to 807,000 visitors.
The retail - music category posted a 17-percent increase to nearly 28 million visitors, led by Barnes & Noble with 9.3 million visitors (up 20 percent), CDUniverse.com with 3.5 million visitors (up 4 percent) and eMusic with 3.4 million visitors (up 89 percent).
Other retail categories experiencing strong growth for the month included jewelry/luxury goods/accessories (up 22 percent to 24 million visitors), retail-food (up 14 percent to 19 million visitors), retail-sports/outdoors (up 13 percent to 36.6 million visitors), and flowers/gifts/greetings (up 12 percent to 44.6 million visitors).
Shipping Sites Surge Amid Holiday Package Rush
December saw shipping sites jump as consumers shipped and anxiously awaited their holiday deliveries. The category rose 21 percent to 37 million visitors for December, with UPS Sites leading the category with 18.3 million visitors (up 34 percent), followed by USPS.com with 16.8 million visitors (up 19 percent) and FedEx with 12.3 million visitors (up 28 percent).
Weather Category Gains in Anticipation of Wintery Conditions and Holiday Travel
Holiday travel plans and winter storms sent Americans searching for weather forecasts, resulting in a 14-percent increase in visitors to weather sites. The Weather Channel topped the category with 40.7 million visitors, up 19 percent from November. Other sites experiencing significant growth included Yahoo! Weather (up 23 percent to 12.5 million visitors), AOL Weather (up 52 percent to 6.3 million visitors) and MSN Weather (up 34 percent to 5.8 million visitors).
Top 50 Properties
Yahoo! Sites continued its reign as the top U.S. Web property in December with nearly 137 million visitors, followed by Google Sites (133 million visitors) and Microsoft Sites (120 million visitors). Apple Inc., which benefited from interest in popular holiday gifts like the iPod and iPhone, moved up one spot to capture position 10 with 47.7 million visitors. Holiday shopping also lifted Sears Sites, which jumped 10 spots to number 21, Best Buy Sites, which rose 5 spots to 22, and JCPenney Sites, gaining 5 spots to position 40. NBC Universal, iVillage.com: The Womens Network, and Weatherbug Property all entered the rankings this month capturing positions 48, 49, and 50, respectively.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Advertising.com continued to lead the Ad Focus ranking of ad networks and sites accepting advertising, reaching 86 percent of the more than 183 million Americans online in December. Specific Media gained four spots to capture the fourth position reaching 77 percent of the online population. Collective Media gained seven spots to position 14, while Amazon.com climbed three spots to 34. YuMe Video Network, About, and Disney Online all entered the ranking this month capturing positions 37, 44, and 48, respectively.
TABLE 1
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)December 2007 vs. November 2007Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet UsersSource: Comscore MMX
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Nov-07
Dec-07
% Change
Rank by Unique Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience
182,362
183,619
1
N/A
OfficeMax
5,687
15,339
170
59
JibJab Media
1,718
4,404
156
239
Intuit
3,154
7,096
125
140
FrontierNet.net
4,037
8,028
99
122
Visa
2,833
5,196
83
195
Buzznet
3,100
4,973
60
210
DicksSportingGoods.com
3,493
5,093
46
205
123Greetings.com
3,659
5,116
40
202
Infospace Network
3,727
5,151
38
197
Pronto.com
5,489
7,505
37
131
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in December 2007
TABLE 2
Comscore Top 10 Gaining Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)December 2007 vs. November 2007Total U.S. Home, Work and University Internet UsersSource: Comscore MMX
Fragrances/Cosmetics
16,592
21,512
30
Consumer Goods
29,100
35,936
23
Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories
19,688
24,036
22
Shipping
30,693
36,990
21
Retail - Music
23,846
27,933
17
Gay/Lesbian
2,043
2,367
16
Retail - Food
16,629
19,000
14
Weather
60,132
68,388
Sports/Outdoor
32,244
36,586
13
Flowers/Gifts/Greetings
39,753
44,594
12
TABLE 3
Comscore Top 50 Properties (U.S.)December 2007Total U.S. - Home, Work and University LocationsUnique Visitors (000)Source: Comscore MMX
Rank
Property
Unique Visitors
(000)
Yahoo! Sites
136,634
26
Disney Online
26,167
2
Google Sites
132,954
27
CBS Corporation
25,083
3
Microsoft Sites
120,034
28
Glam Media
25,028
4
Time Warner Network
119,545
29
CRAIGSLIST.ORG
24,468
5
Fox Interactive Media
81,847
Yellowpages.com Network
24,453
6
eBay
79,892
31
Bank of America
23,771
7
Amazon Sites
65,205
32
Superpages.com Network
23,448
8
Wikipedia Sites
51,851
33
Monster Worldwide
22,565
9
Ask Network
49,509
34
Real.com Network
20,988
10
Apple Inc.
47,724
35
ESPN
20,667
11
New York Times Digital
44,362
36
E.W. Scripps
20,207
Wal-Mart
44,341
Gannett Sites
20,163
Viacom Digital
43,109
United Online, Inc
19,617
Target Corporation
42,634
39
Circuit City Stores, Inc.
18,751
15
Weather Channel, The
40,663
JCPenney Sites
18,729
CNET Networks
35,773
41
Expedia Inc
18,702
Facebook.com
34,658
42
NFL Internet Group
18,557
18
Adobe Sites
30,798
43
Lycos Sites
18,427
19
AT&T, Inc.
30,212
44
UPS Sites
18,314
20
Verizon Communications Corporation
28,656
45
AmericanGreetings Property
18,102
Sears Sites
27,203
Photobucket.com LLC
18,060
Best Buy Sites
27,067
47
ARTISTdirect Network
17,729
Gorilla Nation
26,642
48
NBC Universal
17,309
24
Shopzilla.com Sites
26,524
49
iVillage.com: The Womens Network
17,234
25
Comcast Corporation
26,445
50
Weatherbug Property
17,077
TABLE 4
Comscore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.)
December 2007
Total U.S. - Home, Work and University Locations
Unique Visitors (000)
Source: Comscore MMX
Reach %
100%
Advertising.com**
157,413
86%
Vibrant Media**
71,901
39%
Yahoo! Network**
155,511
85%
MySpace.com*
68,905
38%
Google Ad Network**
141,678
77%
CPX Interactive**
68,840
37%
Specific Media**
141,104
Ebay.com
67,861
Yahoo!
134,496
73%
Gorilla Nation Media
66,993
36%
ValueClick Networks**
133,982
Undertone Networks**
61,512
34%
Blue Lithium**
133,674
MSN.com Home Page
59,212
32%
Tribal Fusion**
126,321
69%
YouTube.com
56,628
31%
Google
125,319
68%
Amazon.com
55,972
30%
Casale Media Network**
113,942
62%
AdDynamix.com**
49,840
27%
AOL Media Network
107,793
59%
DRIVEpm**
105,991
58%
YuMe Video Network
46,997
26%
MSN-Windows Live
103,675
56%
Business.com Network
44,939
24%
Collective Media**
102,621
Ebau.com Home Page
43,660
interCLICK**
98,635
54%
Kontera**
43,629
Traffic Marketplace**
95,233
52%
PrecisionClick**
43,473
Yahoo.com Home Page
94,751
Mapquest
43,195
adconion media group**
92,499
50%
Walmart.com
41,583
23%
Tremor Media
91,264
About
37,797
21%
AOL
90,269
49%
The Nabbr Network
36,028
20%
24/7 Real Media**
85,824
47%
19%
Burst Media**
80,312
44%
Weather.com
31,696
17%
ADSDAQ by ContextWeb**
80,111
14%
AdBrite**
78,533
43%
Vizi Media**
26,023
Centro
77,316
42%
Real Cities Network
25,404
Reach % denotes the percentage of the total Internet population that viewed a particular entity at least once in December. For instance, Yahoo! was seen by 73 percent of the more than 183 million Internet users in December.
* Entity has assigned some portion of traffic to other syndicated entities.
** Denotes an advertising network.
About Comscore MMXComscore MMX 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 MMX reports are used by financial analysts, advertising agencies, publishers and marketers. Comscore MMX syndicated ratings are based on industry-sanctioned sampling methodologies.
About ComscoreComscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore 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 analysts 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 more than 800 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, BBC, Carat, Cyworld, Deutsche Bank, France Telecom, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Financial Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, Starcom, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon, ViaMichelin, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.
Contact:Sarah RadwanickDirector, Regional Product MarketingComscore, Inc. +44 (0) 20 7099 1784worldpress@comscore.com