Press Release
Home > Press Release > Marketwire
Despite Challenging Economy, Black Friday Traffic to Online Shopping Sites Grows 10 Percent Year Over Year, According to Nielsen Online
Online Buzz Shows Shopping Incentives Important Part of Online Consumer Discussions Around Black Friday
Font Scale: 
NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwire) -- 12/01/08 -- Nielsen Online, a service of the NielsenCompany, reported today that Web traffic from home and work to the HolidayeShopping Index increased 10 percent year over year on Black Friday,growing from 28.8 million unique visitors in 2007 to 31.7 million uniquevisitors in 2008 across more than 120 representative online retailers.
Holiday eShopping Index Category Growth
Consumer Electronics was the fastest growing product category on Friday,increasing 219 percent from the previous Friday, November 21st. ShoppingComparison/Portals and Toys/Videogames took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, with83 and 73 percent Web traffic growth, respectively (see Table 1).
"Even with the weakening economy, an unstable stock market and a risingunemployment rate, Black Friday traffic to online retail sites grew at adouble digit rate this year," said Ken Cassar, vice president, industryinsights, Nielsen Online. "Consumers are continuing to shift their holidayshopping to the Web for the convenience of not having to fight the crowdsand to further stretch shrinking budgets. The fact that the ShoppingComparison/Portals category was the second fastest growing segmentindicates that consumers continue to see the Web as the source fordetermining the best deals and prices of the season, which we expect to betop of mind for holiday shoppers this year." Cassar continued, "With theseason underway and consumers back at work, it will be interesting tocompare activity for Cyber Monday and to see if the initial growth rate wesaw on Black Friday holds up throughout the holiday shopping season."
Table 1: Product Categories ranked by Growth on Black Friday(U.S., Home and Work) Unique Audience Growth fromCategories 11/21 to 11/28 -----------------------------Consumer Electronics 219% -----------------------------Shopping Comparison/Portals 83% -----------------------------Toys/Videogames 73% -----------------------------Home and Garden 53% -----------------------------Computer Hardware/Software 30% -----------------------------Books/Music/Video 29% -----------------------------Retail 20% -----------------------------Beauty 16% -----------------------------Apparel 3% -----------------------------Flowers and Gifts -16% -----------------------------Shoes N/A -----------------------------Jewelry N/A -----------------------------TOTAL 15% -----------------------------Source: Nielsen Online, NetView Custom Analysis
Black Friday Online Conversations and Consumer Perceptions
To gauge consumer perceptions about Black Friday, Nielsen Online created aBrand Association Map(TM) (BAM), based on online discussions in blogs andonline forums between October 1st and November 22, 2008. With the keyword"Black Friday" at the center, the BAM reveals words and phrases mostfrequently used when consumers discussed Black Friday. The closer the wordsare to the center, the greater the association.
Key findings:
-- Not surprisingly, shopping incentives were a key part of Black Friday discussions. The terms "deals," "sales," and "doorbusters," referring to deep discounts intended to get shoppers in the door, were all closely associated with Black Friday.-- Specific retailers were also mentioned in relation to Black Friday, including Sears, CVS, Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Staples and Circuit City, among others.-- Consumers discussed specific products and gift ideas, including high definition televisions, video games, laptops and toys.
See the Black Friday BAM here.
Black Friday Top 10 Online Retail Destinations
eBay was the top online retail destination on Black Friday with 9.8 millionunique visitors, while Amazon and Wal-Mart followed with 8.4 million and6.0 million unique visitors, respectively (See Table 2). Among the top tenonline retail destinations, Circuit City was the fastest growing on Friday,increasing 352 percent over the previous Friday. Best Buy ranked No. 2 witha 196 percent increase in Web traffic and Target rounded out the top threewith a 136 percent week over week growth.
Table 2: Top 10 Online Retailers Ranked by Unique Audience onBlack Friday 2008 (U.S., Home and Work) PercentSite 11/21/08 UA (000) 11/28/08 UA (000) Growth ----------------- ----------------- ---------1. eBay 9,227 9,871 7% ----------------- ----------------- ---------2. Amazon 6,503 8,448 30% ----------------- ----------------- ---------3. Wal-Mart Stores 2,923 6,029 106% ----------------- ----------------- ---------4. Target 1,780 4,196 136% ----------------- ----------------- ---------5. Best Buy 1,252 3,709 196% ----------------- ----------------- ---------6. Circuit City 639 2,889 352% ----------------- ----------------- ---------7. Dell 1,527 1,926 26% ----------------- ----------------- ---------8. Sears 1,478 1,639 11% ----------------- ----------------- ---------9. Kohl's 1,018 1,601 57% ----------------- ----------------- ---------10. JCPenney 974 1,518 56% ----------------- ----------------- ---------Source: Nielsen Online, NetView Custom Analysis
About Nielsen Online's Holiday eShopping Index
The Nielsen Online Holiday eShopping Index is comprised of over 120representative online retailers across twelve categories, and acts as abarometer to gauge the level of activity at online shopping destinationsduring the holiday season. The Index illustrates increased shoppingactivity through category growth.
About Nielsen Online:
Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, delivers comprehensive,independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising,video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumerbehavior, and includes products previously marketed under theNielsen//NetRatings and Nielsen BuzzMetrics brands. With high quality,technology-driven products and services, Nielsen Online enables clients tomake informed business decisions regarding their Internet, digital andmarketing strategies. For more information, please visitwww.nielsen-online.com. Also, visit our blog atwww.nielsen-online.com/blog.
About The Nielsen Company:
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leadingmarket positions in marketing and consumer information, television andother media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, tradeshows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter,Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries,with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit,www.nielsen.com.
Editor's Note: Please source all data to Nielsen Online.
Media Contact:Michelle McGiboney(408) 941-2930pr.us@nielsen.com
Consumer Electronics was the fastest growing product category on Friday,increasing 219 percent from the previous Friday, November 21st. ShoppingComparison/Portals and Toys/Videogames took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, with83 and 73 percent Web traffic growth, respectively (see Table 1).
"Even with the weakening economy, an unstable stock market and a risingunemployment rate, Black Friday traffic to online retail sites grew at adouble digit rate this year," said Ken Cassar, vice president, industryinsights, Nielsen Online. "Consumers are continuing to shift their holidayshopping to the Web for the convenience of not having to fight the crowdsand to further stretch shrinking budgets. The fact that the ShoppingComparison/Portals category was the second fastest growing segmentindicates that consumers continue to see the Web as the source fordetermining the best deals and prices of the season, which we expect to betop of mind for holiday shoppers this year." Cassar continued, "With theseason underway and consumers back at work, it will be interesting tocompare activity for Cyber Monday and to see if the initial growth rate wesaw on Black Friday holds up throughout the holiday shopping season."
Table 1: Product Categories ranked by Growth on Black Friday(U.S., Home and Work) Unique Audience Growth fromCategories 11/21 to 11/28 -----------------------------Consumer Electronics 219% -----------------------------Shopping Comparison/Portals 83% -----------------------------Toys/Videogames 73% -----------------------------Home and Garden 53% -----------------------------Computer Hardware/Software 30% -----------------------------Books/Music/Video 29% -----------------------------Retail 20% -----------------------------Beauty 16% -----------------------------Apparel 3% -----------------------------Flowers and Gifts -16% -----------------------------Shoes N/A -----------------------------Jewelry N/A -----------------------------TOTAL 15% -----------------------------Source: Nielsen Online, NetView Custom Analysis
Black Friday Online Conversations and Consumer Perceptions
To gauge consumer perceptions about Black Friday, Nielsen Online created aBrand Association Map(TM) (BAM), based on online discussions in blogs andonline forums between October 1st and November 22, 2008. With the keyword"Black Friday" at the center, the BAM reveals words and phrases mostfrequently used when consumers discussed Black Friday. The closer the wordsare to the center, the greater the association.
Key findings:
-- Not surprisingly, shopping incentives were a key part of Black Friday discussions. The terms "deals," "sales," and "doorbusters," referring to deep discounts intended to get shoppers in the door, were all closely associated with Black Friday.-- Specific retailers were also mentioned in relation to Black Friday, including Sears, CVS, Wal-Mart, JCPenney, Staples and Circuit City, among others.-- Consumers discussed specific products and gift ideas, including high definition televisions, video games, laptops and toys.
See the Black Friday BAM here.
Black Friday Top 10 Online Retail Destinations
eBay was the top online retail destination on Black Friday with 9.8 millionunique visitors, while Amazon and Wal-Mart followed with 8.4 million and6.0 million unique visitors, respectively (See Table 2). Among the top tenonline retail destinations, Circuit City was the fastest growing on Friday,increasing 352 percent over the previous Friday. Best Buy ranked No. 2 witha 196 percent increase in Web traffic and Target rounded out the top threewith a 136 percent week over week growth.
Table 2: Top 10 Online Retailers Ranked by Unique Audience onBlack Friday 2008 (U.S., Home and Work) PercentSite 11/21/08 UA (000) 11/28/08 UA (000) Growth ----------------- ----------------- ---------1. eBay 9,227 9,871 7% ----------------- ----------------- ---------2. Amazon 6,503 8,448 30% ----------------- ----------------- ---------3. Wal-Mart Stores 2,923 6,029 106% ----------------- ----------------- ---------4. Target 1,780 4,196 136% ----------------- ----------------- ---------5. Best Buy 1,252 3,709 196% ----------------- ----------------- ---------6. Circuit City 639 2,889 352% ----------------- ----------------- ---------7. Dell 1,527 1,926 26% ----------------- ----------------- ---------8. Sears 1,478 1,639 11% ----------------- ----------------- ---------9. Kohl's 1,018 1,601 57% ----------------- ----------------- ---------10. JCPenney 974 1,518 56% ----------------- ----------------- ---------Source: Nielsen Online, NetView Custom Analysis
About Nielsen Online's Holiday eShopping Index
The Nielsen Online Holiday eShopping Index is comprised of over 120representative online retailers across twelve categories, and acts as abarometer to gauge the level of activity at online shopping destinationsduring the holiday season. The Index illustrates increased shoppingactivity through category growth.
About Nielsen Online:
Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company, delivers comprehensive,independent measurement and analysis of online audiences, advertising,video, consumer-generated media, word of mouth, commerce and consumerbehavior, and includes products previously marketed under theNielsen//NetRatings and Nielsen BuzzMetrics brands. With high quality,technology-driven products and services, Nielsen Online enables clients tomake informed business decisions regarding their Internet, digital andmarketing strategies. For more information, please visitwww.nielsen-online.com. Also, visit our blog atwww.nielsen-online.com/blog.
About The Nielsen Company:
The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leadingmarket positions in marketing and consumer information, television andother media measurement, online intelligence, mobile measurement, tradeshows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter,Adweek). The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries,with headquarters in New York, USA. For more information, please visit,www.nielsen.com.
Editor's Note: Please source all data to Nielsen Online.
Media Contact:Michelle McGiboney(408) 941-2930pr.us@nielsen.com
For more information, go to www.marketwire.com
- Sponsored By
-
Recent Press Release
Advertisement
POS Magnetic Card Readers
Online distributor for point of sale equipment, TYSSO and Pegasus.
