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America Online Says 1999 Holiday Shopping Season Indicates New Consumer Categories, Shopping Behaviors, and Customer Satisfaction Levels
December 14, 1999 |
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Sports & Outdoors, Home & Garden, Consumer Electronics Emerge As Fastest Growing Categories for Holiday 1999
Two-Thirds of 1998 AOL Holiday Shoppers Say Buying Online Better Than Last Year At Holiday Season Mid Point, First-Time Buyers Double Over Last Year; 6 Million AOL Members Made Purchases Online Last Week Dulles, VA, December 14, 1999 -- With 11 days of shopping to go until Christmas, America Online, Inc., the world's leading interactive services company, today announced new research that indicates several new e-commerce trends that characterize the1999 holiday shopping season to date among AOL members, the largest aggregate audience of buyers in cyberspace. Toys, Apparel Remain Top Categories, With Sports & Outdoor, Home & Garden Emerging as Fastest-Growing Categories of 1999 Holiday Season For the second consecutive holiday season, the most popular retail categories on Shop@AOL have been mainstream consumer products and services. The most popular categories and subcategories on AOL this year are: Top Categories 1999
1. Toys, Kids & Babies
2. Apparel
3. Books, Music & Video
4. Sports & Outdoors
5. Home & Garden
6. Department Stores While Toys and Apparel remain the top categories for holiday 1999, the AOL shopping categories experiencing the biggest increases in seasonal traffic compared to the same period last year are: Sports & Outdoors, Home & Garden, Consumer Electronics and Books, Music & Video. In addition, according to Shop@AOL usage data, some of the most sought-after holiday gifts are: Pokemon
Game Boy
Amazing Ally
Pokedex
Barbie/Barbie Cash Register Sundays, Late Night Most Popular Shopping Day, Times to Shop Online According to the AOL research, this holiday season Sunday has become the most popular day to shop online, followed by Monday and Wednesday. In addition, AOL continues to see that for online shoppers, the most popular time of the day to shop for holiday gifts is during the evening, with 9:00 PM to 10:00 PM as the most popular hour; indicating the convenience offered by online shopping, the most popular shopping time is when retail stores are closed. First-Time Buyers Double Over Last Year; Satisfaction High With Online Shopping Experiences In addition, according to new research from the Internet Research Group (IRG) of Wayne, PA, since Thanksgiving, 1.5 million AOL members have shopped online for the first time -- double last year's rate. Underscoring the rapid adoption of e-commerce among these first time AOL shoppers -- the majority of whom are women -- 9 in 10 say they are satisfied with their online shopping experiences, three-quarters intend to shop online again next month. The IRG research also shows that in the last week alone, 6 million AOL members have made purchases online, up from 4 million only two weeks ago. Among those who have shopped online during 1998 holiday season, two-thirds of those who shopped online during the 1998 holiday season believe the experience has improved this year. In addition, the majority of all AOL shoppers (67%) now think about going online as their first place to shop before stores or catalogues. Bob Pittman, President and Chief Operating Officer of America Online, Inc., said: "The impressive growth of online shopping this holiday season is being driven by impressive buy rates among experienced AOL shoppers and the steady adoption of e-commerce by new AOL shoppers. We're also seeing a new trend emerge -- that the majority of AOL buyers are now going online as the first place to shop. This is yet another indication of the positive impact that e-commerce is having on people's everyday lives and the extent to which the online medium is dramatically changing consumers' buying behaviors." The enormous success of AOL's e-commerce efforts this holiday season prompted several of the Company's Shop@ merchant partners to comment on the impact of their partnerships with the Company: Trinka Dyer, Beyond.com's Vice President of Consumer Marketing, said: "Since Thanksgiving Day, Beyond.com has seen traffic to our anchor sites on Shop@AOL more than double. Even more encouraging is that our software sales through Shop@AOL have increased an outstanding 317% over the same period last year, mostly the result of promotions on AOL. Johnathan Morris, Executive Vice President, Bluefly, Inc., said, "AOL has been the single best driver of qualified traffic to Bluefly.com. In the month of November, Bluefly saw its gross orders from AOL shoppers increase by almost 70%. It is clear to Bluefly that Shop@ AOL, AOL's newly redesigned shopping destination which was rolled out at the end of the summer, is a huge success!" Helio Fialho, CEO of ShopSports.com, said: "In less than two weeks, as a result of a strong presence on Shop@AOL, ShopSports.com sold more than 1,000 North Face jackets. The promotion proved so successful that we are continuing it throughout the remainder of the season. In addition to driving strong traffic to our site, AOL Is helping with us to create solid exposure for our brand on Shop@AOL and the other Shop@ sites across their portfolio of brands." "As a result of AOL's strong merchandising capabilities Petopia's recent 30% off toy's promotion on Shop@AOL resulted in tremendous sales increases," said Andrea Reisman, CEO of Petopia.com. "AOL is helping us to build market share and drive sales not only during the holiday's but the entire year. AOL is one of the most valuable partnerships that Petopia.com currently has."
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