NIELSEN//NETRATINGS
HOLIDAY E-COMMERCE INDEX
MAINTAINS STRONG GROWTH
Top Two Toy Sites
Face Competition
NEW YORK – December 9, 1999
– The holiday shopping season continues to exhibit overall
robust growth, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, the Internet measurement
service from Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings, Inc. (NASDAQ:
NTRT). From the start of the index, the first week in November,
through the fifth week ending December 5, traffic rose close to
23%, as compared to a 24% growth during the first four weeks of
the index (see Table 1).
Table 1
Nielsen//NetRatings Holiday E-Commerce
Index
Overall Category Growth, Unique
Audience
| Category |
% Change during
First Four Weeks of Index (Nov. 1-28)
|
% Change during
First Five Weeks of Index (Nov. 1- Dec. 5)
|
| COMPARISON |
70.5%
|
90.9%
|
| MALLS |
59.6%
|
88.1%
|
| ELECTRONICS |
40.2%
|
83.7%
|
| TOYS |
82.0%
|
71.6%
|
| GIFTS |
56.5%
|
47.9%
|
| APPAREL |
35.9%
|
46.3%
|
| BOOKS/MUSIC/VIDEO |
30.2%
|
31.0%
|
| COMPUTER
HARDWARE |
30.2%
|
23.2%
|
| SOFTWARE |
27.0%
|
19.5%
|
| AUCTIONS |
6.2%
|
5.1%
|
| TOTAL |
23.7%
|
22.9%
|
Note: This index is comprised
of five representative sites for each category, and acts as a barometer
for gauging the level of interest at commerce sites during the holiday
season.
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, December
1999
Sunday, December 5 registered as
the biggest online shopping day of the index,
with record-setting traffic across the board, according to Nielsen//NetRatings
overnight analysis. Daily numbers for top holiday shopping companies
include: Amazon.com (1.0 million unique visitors), eToys (310,000),
Barnes and Noble (285,000), CDNow (273,000), Toys "R"
Us (250,000)and Yahoo!'s shopping mall (223,000).
"Sites which sowed branding
seeds prior to the start of the holiday shopping period have reaped
this season’s biggest rewards," said Allen Weiner, vice
president of analytical services at NetRatings. "Clearly one
of the first lessons coming out of this holiday season for next
year’s e-tailers is to establish a strong brand with consumers
before taking on the shopping rush."
Toys
The toy category, one of the season's
best bellwethers, had an erratic week with a slight decrease in
traffic due to a dip in visitors at the large, brand name sites
in the index. As shoppers looked for the hot products – Pokemon,
Dreamcast and Barbie gifts – an analysis of smaller toy sites
showed surfers turned to some lesser-known toy e-tailers, who offered
alluring holiday promotions, such as discounts with purchase or
free shipping. Such sites as ToyTime, ToySmart, FamilyWonder and
SmarterKids (not listed in the index), have broken through the advertising
clutter to take a small bite out of Toys "R" Us and eToys
(see Table 2).
"Traffic to toy sites other
than the top two toy e-tailers, eToys and Toys ‘R’ Us,
rose this past week, indicating that consumers are shopping around
this holiday season to find the best bargains on the Web,"
said Weiner.
Table 2
Visitors to Lesser-Known Toy E-Tailers
Compared to Top 2 Toy Sites, Unique Audience
| Site |
7-Nov
|
14-Nov
|
21-Nov
|
28-Nov
|
5-Dec
|
| ToyTime.com |
n/a
|
149,580
|
182,960
|
300,853
|
376,465
|
| ToySmart.com |
n/a
|
n/a
|
148,624
|
281,612
|
266,031
|
| FamilyWonder.com |
n/a
|
n/a
|
164,675
|
198,081
|
247,687
|
| SmarterKids.com |
n/a
|
126,756
|
197,684
|
175,198
|
271,266
|
| Total
Unique Audience for Above Four Sites |
n/a
|
272,300
|
612,089
|
853,534
|
1,014,808
|
| Total
Unique Audience for eToys and Toys "R" Us |
1,342,624
|
1,732,367
|
1,998,347
|
2,718,481
|
2,672,057
|
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings,
December 1999
Electronics
In the past week, electronics remained
the hottest product category, up 31 percent, suggesting gift recipients
will find lots of digital cameras, MP3 players and assorted related
goodies in their holiday inbox
(see Table 3).
Table 3
Nielsen//NetRatings Holiday E-Commerce
Index
Percent Change in Unique Audience
as Compared to the Prior Week
|
% Change for
Week Ending Nov. 28
|
% Change for
Week Ending Dec. 5
|
| ELECTRONICS |
44.1%
|
31.0%
|
| MALLS |
25.9%
|
17.8%
|
| COMPARISON |
70.9%
|
11.9%
|
| APPAREL |
28.0%
|
7.7%
|
| BOOKS/MUSIC/VIDEO |
3.0%
|
0.6%
|
| AUCTIONS |
4.9%
|
-1.1%
|
| COMPUTER
HARDWARE |
19.9%
|
-5.4%
|
| GIFTS |
19.4%
|
-5.5%
|
| TOYS |
35.7%
|
-5.7%
|
| SOFTWARE |
11.5%
|
-5.9%
|
| TOTAL |
11.0%
|
-0.6%
|
Note: This index is comprised
of five representative sites for each category, and acts as a barometer
for
gauging the level of interest at commerce sites during the holiday
season.
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, December
1999
Comparison Sites
Comparison sites continue to defy
gravity, led by mySimon, which has taken full advantage of a strong
marketing blitz. Shoppers to comparison sites are using the site’s
data mining power not only to find the lowest price for a given
product, but also as a means to "explore the possibilities"
of gift-giving.
Computer Hardware
The chill of Y2K has continued to
put a curb on computer hardware on the Internet, with a 5.4% dip
in traffic in the past week. "Many PC manufacturers are attempting
to curb fears by noting in ads that their machines will continue
to work before and after the end and start of the year," said
Weiner.
About Nielsen//NetRatings
Nielsen//NetRatings, the audience
measurement service from Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings,
Inc. (NASDAQ: NTRT), collects data from more than 38,000 panelists
as they use the Internet at home. The Nielsen//NetRatings panel
is the largest media research sample of at-home Internet users currently
being measured in real time. Nielsen//NetRatings uses unique technology
capable of measuring both Internet use and advertising to provide
the most timely, accurate and comprehensive Internet usage data
and advertising information in the industry.
* Editors’ note: Please view
the Nielsen//NetRatings’ regular weekly
Internet ratings.
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