With the holiday season about to begin, Americans are already flocking online to do their shopping.
According to Nielsen Online, 78% of adult online consumers in the U.S. made a purchase via the Web within the previous six months.
Travel-related transactions were most common, with 38% of adult online consumers making at least one travel purchase on the Web in the previous six months.
Large percentages of online consumers also went online to manage their credit card accounts (36%) and conduct personal banking transactions (35%).
| Rank | Top Online Transaction Categories (U.S. Adults) |
Composition Percentage |
Reach (in 000s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Online Travel – Any (p/online 6 mo.) | 38% | 54,417 |
| 2 | Credit Cards – Manage Account (t/online/6 mo.) | 36% | 51,731 |
| 3 | Home Banking (t/online/6 mo.) | 35% | 49,899 |
| 4 | Clothes/Shoes/Acc. – Any (p/online/6 mo.) | 28% | 40,075 |
| 5 | Books (p/online/6 mo.) | 26% | 37,001 |
| 6 | Hotel/Motel Reservations (p/online/6 mo.) | 18% | 26,055 |
| 7 | Auctions (p/online/6 mo.) | 16% | 23,449 |
| 8 | Event Tickets (p/online/6 mo.) | 14% | 20,820 |
| 9 | Insurance – Any (t/online/6 mo.) | 11% | 16,385 |
| 10 | Computer Software – Any (p/online/6 mo.) | 11% | 15,580 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company, Nielsen Online, @Plan, Winter 2008/2009 Release. | |||
| Note: “p” = “purchase” and “t” = “transaction” | |||
Nielsen’s findings are based on data from @Plan, a quarterly survey of approximately 36,000 U.S. Internet users age 18 and older.
In October, eBay and Amazon were the top two online retailers, drawing 49.2 million and 48.3 million unique visitors, respectively. Wal-Mart, Target, and Netflix rounded out the top five.
| Rank (by U.A.) |
Top Online Retailers: October 2008 |
Unique Audience (in 000s) |
Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eBay | 49,213 | 1:47:26 |
| 2 | Amazon | 48,261 | 0:22:45 |
| 3 | Wal-Mart Stores | 25,312 | 0:13:55 |
| 4 | Target | 23,827 | 0:09:36 |
| 5 | Netflix | 14,284 | 0:34:58 |
| 6 | Dell | 14,272 | 0:14:13 |
| 7 | Best Buy | 12,446 | 0:10:57 |
| 8 | Sears | 11,752 | 0:07:33 |
| 9 | The Home Depot | 11,053 | 0:09:52 |
| 10 | JCPenney | 10,703 | 0:16:09 |
| Source: The Nielsen Company, Nielsen Online, Custom Analysis (October 2008). | |||
“The challenge for retailers is no longer how to lure shoppers online, but how to differentiate their brand among all others,” Nachi Lolla, research director, commerce, Nielsen Online, noted. “Heading into this competitive holiday shopping season, selection, price, and customer service are the key areas in which retailers can shine.”
View the full press release.
Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings on Digital Media Wire and in Brandweek and BizReport.com.
[...] Wire has news that 78% of adults in the US have shopped online in the last 6 months. CoolHeads shopped at least 6 of the top 10 shopping sites, and all 10 of the top 10 [...]
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