New York, NY, December 13, 2005--Nielsen//NetRatings announced that its Holiday eShopping Index saw a 33 percent year-over-year increase in the total number of online shopping trips during the week ending December 4th.
The Nielsen//NetRatings Holiday eShopping Index is comprised of over 100 representative online retailers across ten categories, and acts as a barometer to gauge the level of activity at online shopping destinations during the holiday season. Last year at this time, the Holiday eShopping Index showed shoppers visiting retail sites 348.3 million times during the week; this year, the number of shopping sessions grew to 462.5 million.
“Online shopping has increased over last year because both new and experienced Internet buyers are not only researching products and comparing prices online before making a purchase, but they are also finding good holiday discounts online,” said Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst, Nielsen/NetRatings.
The year-over-year fastest growing category was Books/Music/Video, which increased in shopping visits by a remarkable 238 percent compared with Week 6 of the 2004 holiday season. Apparel ranked No. 2 in year-over-year growth with an increase of 38 percent, while Toys/Video Games, Retail and Consumer Electronics rounded out the top five year-over-year fastest growing categories, each with 28 percent growth.
“Retail sites across all product categories have experienced growth over last year and traffic continues to escalate as the holidays get closer,” said Dougherty. “The significant increase in visits to the Books/Music/Video category is being driven by the vast selection of titles released during the holidays,” she continued.
