2005 Holiday E-Shopping Exceeds Last Year's

Consumers are increasingly going online this holiday season. Data from Nielsen//NetRatings‘s Holiday eShopping Index shows a 33 percent increase over last year.

Weekly shopping sessions at online retailers rose from 348.3 million over the holidays last year to 462.5 million in 2005. The increase is a 33 percent jump over the 2004 holiday season.

“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.

Week six of the 2005 holiday shopping season (December 4-10) experienced a 33 percent year-over-year gain over week six of last year (December 5-11).

Books, music, and video combined are the fastest growing category, with a 238 percent increase over last year. Dougherty attributes the growth to a vast selection of titles released during the holidays.

Toys and video games make the combined fastest-growing online retail category for the current holiday season, beginning October 30. Toy and video game buys online account for 149 percent growth from week one to week six. Flowers and gifts grew 117 percent; and consumer electronics grew 90 percent.

The Holiday eShopping Index looks at over 100 representative online retailers across 10 categories.

U.S. Home and Work Online Shopping Trips by Retail Category, 2004 and 2005
Category	Week Ending 12/04/2005	Week Ending 12/05/2004	Growth (%)
Books/music/video	45,945	13,594	238
Apparel	17,186	12,498	38
Home and garden	12,325	9,592	28
Toys/video games	11,283	8,795	28
Retail	262,121	204,805	28
Consumer electronics	24,880	19,614	27
Computer hardware/software	27,129	22,228	22
Flowers and gifts	6,216	5,154	21
Shopping comparison/portals	53,078	49,277	8
Total	462,468	348,267	33
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings, December 2005