By Elaine X. Grant E-Commerce Times
03/15/02 10:59 AM PT
Hallmark and American Greetings were two of the fastest-growing online properties in
February.
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Online shoppers were outnumbered in February by surfers interested
in the Olympics and taxes, but e-commerce sites --
including those dedicated to flowers, gifts and
greetings -- were still among the most-visited Web locales,
according to a report by Jupiter Media Metrix
(Nasdaq: JMXI).
Despite the fact that e-commerce had a relatively slow
month in February, Jupiter Media Metrix analyst Mainak
Mazumdar told the E-Commerce Times that e-tailers have
no cause for concern.
"E-commerce is still a robust area. People are buying
and shopping," Mazumdar said. He noted that online
shopping traditionally dips a bit after the holidays
but recovers slowly over the next few months.
"Except for Valentine's, February tends to be a slow
month for retail," and that is reflected in online
sales, GartnerG2 analyst David Schehr added in an interview
with the E-Commerce Times.
Online Buying
The Olympics drove the most online traffic in
the month. Visits to MSNBC, already the top-ranked news
site, increased 26.3 percent from January to 20.2
million in February, boosted by increased visits to
Nbcolympics.com, Saltlake2002.com and Olympics.com.
But even in the shadow of the Olympics, some e-commerce sites
managed to make a respectable showing,
according to the report.
Ten e-commerce companies ranked among the top 50
most-visited sites in February, with EBay and Amazon holding the
number six and seven spots, respectively. Ticketmaster, Homestore,
Expedia, Travelocity and BarnesandNoble.com also were on
the top 50 list.
As consumers' thoughts began to turn to spring and summer
vacations, hotel and resort sites saw a 16 percent
rise in audience reach, to 10.9 percent.
Schehr said that while he does not foresee a dramatic
increase in online shopping in coming months,
e-tailers might see a slight pickup as Web shoppers
browse for gardening tools, travel and new spring clothes.
Love and Taxes
Tax sites saw the fastest audience growth in February,
reaching 7.5 percent of Web users, up 29.3 percent from
January. Irs.gov and Turbotax.com were two of the top
three gaining properties, with visitor boosts of 44.3
percent to 10.8 million and 43 percent to 5.3 million,
respectively.
Driven by Valentine's Day, sites dedicated to flowers,
gifts and greetings increased their audience reach
by 17.6 percent from January to 28.8 percent of the total
online audience. Hallmark and American Greetings were two of the fastest-growing
online properties in February, and American Greetings
sites were the 13th most-visited during the month.
Four newcomers -- Jewelrynetwork.com, Flower.com,
Bhteddybear.com and Bluefootbear.com -- also made the most
of Valentine's Day, reporting a total of 4.9
million visitors in February.
Sites selling jewelry and luxury goods reached 10.4 percent
more Web users in February than in January, with an
overall audience reach of 7.4 percent.