Holiday Festivities Drive Traffic to Retail and Greetings Sites

Shipping Sites Experience Surge in Traffic as Americans Rush to Ensure Delivery in Time for the Holidays

RESTON, Va., Jan. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- 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.

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"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).  

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, Inc.

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