Google continued to lead the US as the most visited site in December, with women’s network iVillage the highest riser, according to new data from comScore.
The holiday shopping season continued its momentum into December, propelling Retail and Shipping sites to annual highs.
Among the top-gaining retail categories for the month were Movies, Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories and Flowers/Gifts/Greetings, each growing approximately 20 percent during the month.
Many Americans also looked to close their financial books for the year, while others got a head start on researching information for 2012 tax season, making Tax sites the
top-gaining category in December.
“The holiday shopping season continued with strong momentum in December as Americans worked to cross everyone off of their list in time for the holidays,” said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore. “Shipping sites were heavily trafficked as consumers tracked their packages, while some found time to browse Tax sites as they closed their books for 2011.”
Holiday Retail Rules the Web
Retail sites scattered the top-gaining properties list in December, including Movie sites which grew 21 percent to 43.8 million visitors. Netflix.com ranked as the category leader with 34.7 million visitors, a 31- percent increase versus November, earning it a spot on the top-gaining properties list. Redbox.com came in second with 5.3 million visitors, followed by Blockbuster Inc. with 3.6 million (up 7 percent) and Walmart Movies with 1.6 million.
Jewelry, Luxury Goods and Accessories sites reached 28.6 million visitors during the month (up 19 percent) led by 6PM.com with 2.6 million visitors (up 8 percent). BradfordExchange.com closely followed in second with 2.6 million visitors (up 30 percent), followed by Zale Corporation with 2.5 million (up 23 percent), Coach.com with 2.4 million (up 24 percent) and Kay Jewelers with 1.8 million (up 18 percent).
Flowers, Gifts and Greetings sites attracted 34.1 million visitors in December, representing a 19-percent increase. Gifts.com secured the #1 position in the category with 7.4 million visitors (up 31 percent), followed by AmericanGreetings Property with 5.9 million (up 22 percent), Hallmark.com with 2.4 million (up 7 percent) and PersonalizationMall.com with 2.1 million (up 65 percent). 1-800-Flowers.com, Inc. drew nearly 2 million visitors (up 19 percent), while ProFlowers.com drew 1.9 million (up 72 percent).
Shipping Sites Spike during Holiday Hustle
36 million Americans visited Shipping sites during the month to send and track packages, an increase of 22 percent from the prior month. UPS Sites topped the ranking with 20.3 million visitors (up 31 percent), followed by USPS Sites with 15.5 million (up 33 percent). FedEx ranked third with 12.4 million visitors (up 22 percent), while Stamps.com Inc witnessed 1.2 million visitors (up 23 percent).
Tax Sites Swell at Year’s End
Tax sites saw an uptick in traffic in December as many looked to close their financial books or research the requirements for the upcoming tax season. More than 6.6 million visited a Tax site in December, up 29 percent to rank as the fastest growing category.
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in December with 187.1 million visitors, followed by Microsoft Sites with 177.3 million and Yahoo! Sites with 176.5 million. iVillage.com: The Womens Network jumped 10 positions to rank #29 with 36.4 million visitors, while Netflix.com appeared on the chart at #33 with 34.7 million visitors.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Google Ad Network led the December Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 92.9 percent of Americans online, followed by Yahoo! Network Plus (84.9 percent), AOL Advertising (84.1 percent), AT&T AdWorks (82.9 percent) and ValueClick Networks (82.1 percent).
Souce: www.comscore.com
