Rank | Title | Author | Publisher | Publication Date |
1 | A New Earth | Eckhart Tolle | Penguin Books | 2/1/2008 |
2 | The Secret | Rhonda Byrne | Simon & Schuster | 11/1/2006 |
3 | The Last Lecture | Randy Pausch | Hyperion | 4/1/2008 |
4 | Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving … | Joel Osteen | Simon & Schuster | 10/1/2007 |
5 | The Audacity of Hope | Barack Obama | Random House | 11/1/2007 |
6 | The Appeal (unabridged) | John Grisham | Random House | 1/1/2008 |
7 | When You Are Engulfed in Flames | David Sedaris | Hachette Book Group | 6/1/2008 |
8 | Twilight | Stephenie Meyer | Random House | 10/1/2005 |
9 | The Power of Now | Eckhart Tolle | PGW TR | 10/1/2001 |
10 | The Shack | William P. Young | Oasis | 6/1/2008 |
Source: Nielsen |
Holiday consumer spending in 2008
2007 | 2008 | Change | |
January – October Actual | $93.6 | $102.1 | 9% |
Holiday Season Forecast (Nov-Dec) | $29.2 | $29.2 | 0% |
Source: comScore |
Plans for 2008 holiday shopping season
Percent of Respondents | |
General Shopping | |
Buying fewer gifts | 47 % |
Buying less expensive gifts | 46 % |
Using coupons I receive from my newspaper or via mail | 37 % |
Spending more time searching for deals in stores | 32 % |
Shopping early in the season to take advantage of sales and or discounts | 22 % |
Shopping later in the season to take advantage of price reductions | 19 % |
Online Shopping | |
Shopping online to take advantage of free shipping, no tax, etc. | 39 % |
Spending more time researching deals online | 37 % |
Using online coupons or coupons I receive via email | 31 % |
Using comparison shopping engines to find the best deals | 25 % |
Shop online auction sites | 21 % |
Shop online classifieds | 8 % |
Using deal of the day sites | 8 % |
Source: comScore |
Top UK retail sites in November 2008
U.K. | % Change in Average Weekly Visitors Versus 2008 Base Period Average |
% Change in Average Weekly Visitors Versus Corresponding Weeks Last Year |
|
Retail | 10% | -10% | |
eBay | 9% | -20% | |
Amazon Sites | 28% | -21% | |
Apple Inc. | 8% | -8% | |
Home Retail Group | 49% | -16% | |
Tesco Stores | 21% | -28% | |
Source: comScore |
Growth for top retail sites in France in 2008
France | % Change in Average Weekly Visitors Versus 2008 Base Period Average |
% Change in Average Weekly Visitors Versus Corresponding Weeks Last Year |
|
Retail | 6% | -2% | |
eBay | 9% | -3% | |
Groupe PPR | 21% | -6% | |
Groupe PriceMinister | 26% | N/A | |
Apple Inc. | 9% | 7% | |
Otto Gruppe | 4% | 2% | |
Source: comScore |
Growth rates for top retail sites in Germany in 2008
Germany | % Change in Average Weekly Visitors Versus 2008 Base Period Average |
% Change in Average Weekly Visitors Versus Corresponding Weeks Last Year |
Retail | 11% | -7% |
eBay | 8% | -18% |
Arcandor AG | 18% | N/A |
Otto Gruppe | 28% | -10% |
Amazon Sites | 21% | -15% |
Apple Inc. | 22% | 10% |
Source: comScore |
Cyber Monday shopping by location in 2008: 50% of it from work
2007 | 2008 | Share of spending |
|
All Locations | $733 | $846 | 100% |
Home | $297 | $334 | 39% |
Work | $372 | $426 | 50% |
University | $22 | $25 | 3% |
International | $42 | $60 | 7% |
Source: comScore |
Cyber Monday spending, 2008 vs 2007
2007 | 2008 | Growth | |
Dollars (mln of $) | $733 | $846 | 15% |
Number of Buyers, 000 | 7,585 | 9,254 | 22% |
Dollars per Buyer | $96.62 | $91.43 | -5% |
Average Transaction Value | $53.89 | $55.76 | 3% |
Transactions per Buyer | 1.79 | 1.64 | -9% |
Source: comScore |
Top visited retail sites on Cyber Monday: eBay, Amazon, WalMart.com, Target.com
November 2008 | December 1st | Growth | |
Retail Category | 42,927 | 57,129 | 33% |
eBay | 8,930 | 12,981 | 45% |
Amazon Sites | 5,894 | 9,207 | 56% |
Wal-Mart | 3,569 | 6,766 | 90% |
Target Corporation | 3,108 | 4,801 | 54% |
Apple Inc. | 2,567 | 3,683 | 43% |
Best Buy Sites | 1,257 | 2,908 | 131% |
Dell | 1,550 | 2,372 | 53% |
Toysrus Sites | 1,432 | 2,162 | 51% |
OVERSTOCK.COM | 1,519 | 2,053 | 35% |
Moviefone | 1,315 | 1,968 | 50% |
Hewlett Packard | 1,004 | 1,952 | 94% |
SEARS.COM | 1,044 | 1,911 | 83% |
JCPenney Sites | 1,013 | 1,873 | 85% |
Circuit City | 1,020 | 1,623 | 59% |
Macy’s Inc. | 823 | 1,573 | 91% |
AmericanGreetings | 821 | 1,461 | 78% |
OLDNAVY.COM | 743 | 1,384 | 86% |
NETFLIX.COM | 808 | 1,318 | 63% |
Kohls Corporation | 771 | 1,113 | 44% |
Limitedbrands | 676 | 1,110 | 64% |
Source: comScore |
Top-visited sites on Cyber Monday: Shopzilla, Yahoo! Shopping, Froogle
November 2008 | December 1st | Growth | |
Retail Category | 42,927 | 57,129 | 33% |
Shopzilla.com Sites | 985 | 1,953 | 98% |
Yahoo! Shopping | 1,024 | 1,856 | 81% |
Google Product Search | 697 | 1,110 | 59% |
MSN Shopping | 672 | 1,108 | 65% |
Nextag.com Sites | 367 | 1,010 | 176% |
CyberMonday.com | 13 | 1,004 | 7578% |
SHOPLOCAL.COM | 585 | 878 | 50% |
ValueClick Sites | 531 | 675 | 27% |
PRONTO.COM | 288 | 638 | 121% |
Yahoo! Stores | 254 | 571 | 125% |
Source: comScore |
Online retail visits in November 2008
Base Period Index (Sept 1 – Nov 2) | UK | France | Germany |
Week 1 (Nov 3 – Nov 9) | 13% | 8% | 10% |
Week 2 (Nov 10 – Nov 16) | 13% | 5% | 10% |
Week 3 (Nov 17 – Nov 23) | 10% | 6% | 15% |
Week 4 (Nov 24 – Nov 30) | 3% | 6% | 10% |
November Average | 10% | 6% | 11% |
Source: comScore |
Online sales to grow 12% in holiday season 2008
Forrester Research says online sales are expected to hit $44 bln in the months of November 2008 and December 2008, growth of 12%. Despite modest growth in spending, 45% of online shoppers said they would spend less overall during this holiday, up from 20% in 2007.
Top online retailers ranked by audience in October 2008
Brand | Audience, 000 | Time per Person |
eBay | 49,213 | 1:47:26 |
Amazon | 48,261 | 0:22:45 |
Wal-Mart Stores | 25,312 | 0:13:55 |
Target | 23,827 | 0:09:36 |
Netflix | 14,284 | 0:34:58 |
Dell | 14,272 | 0:14:13 |
Best Buy | 12,446 | 0:10:57 |
Sears | 11,752 | 0:07:33 |
The Home Depot | 11,053 | 0:09:52 |
JCPenney | 10,703 | 0:16:09 |
Source: Nielsen |
Top-selling products on Black Friday 2008
PriceGrabber.com published the list of top products sold on Black Friday 2008.
- Nintendo Wii Console
- Ugg Australia ‘Classic Short’ Boot
- Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player
- Samsung LN52A650 52″ LCD TV
- Nintendo Wii Fit
- Panasonic TH-42PX80U 42″ Plasma TV
- Sennheiser HD 555 Headphones
- Canon EOS Rebel XSi Black SLR Digital Camera Kit
- Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 Notebook
- Canon PowerShot A590 IS Black Digital Camera
Top online shopping cateories for Black Friday 2008
PriceGrabber published the list of top shopping categories and their growth over the Black Friday 2008.
- Women’s Boots – 203%
- Watches – 202%
- Blu-ray/HD-DVD Players – 147%
- Women’s Sleep & Lounge Wear – 415%
- Games & Puzzles – 151%
- Women’s Jackets – 110%
- Music – 96%
- Headphones – 103%
- Women’s Dresses – 107%
- Women’s Casual Shoes – 143%
$10.6 bln spent on Black Friday in 2008
Sales during the day after Thanksgiving 2008 rose 3% to $10.6 bln, according to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., who tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets. US shoppers spent about $10.3 bln on the day after Thanksgiving 2007.
Top reasons why Americans shopped online in October 2008
Reason | Share | |
Able to shop 24 hours a day | 76 | |
Saves time | 74 | |
Avoiding crowds | 65 | |
Saves gas | 59 | |
Sales/Discounts/Promotions | 55 | |
Low prices | 53 | |
Comparison shopping | 48 | |
Selection | 40 | |
Available product information | 37 | |
Items are in stock | 37 | |
Source: Nielsen |
Top shopping categories ranked by market share
DATE | 10/27/2007 | 10/25/2008 | % Change |
Music | 0.24% | 0.19% | -21% |
Computers | 0.39% | 0.32% | -18% |
Ticketing | 0.11% | 0.10% | -12% |
Toys and Hobbies | 0.32% | 0.29% | -10% |
Video and Games | 0.41% | 0.37% | -10% |
Source: Hitwise |
E-commerce growth in 2007-2008
Month | YTY growth |
Jun-07 | 25% |
Jul-07 | 22% |
Aug-07 | 28% |
Sep-07 | 19% |
Oct-07 | 19% |
Nov-07 | 20% |
Dec-07 | 18% |
Jan-08 | 12% |
Feb-08 | 14% |
Mar-08 | 9% |
Apr-08 | 15% |
May-08 | 12% |
Jun-08 | 11% |
Jul-08 | 8% |
Aug-08 | 6% |
Sept-08 | 5% |
Source: comScore |
Where consumers spend their money online – video games grew 60% in one year
Product Category | Growth, YTY |
Total Retail Category (Excludes Travel) | 6% |
Video Games, Consoles & Accessories | 60% |
Furniture, Appliances & Equipment | 52% |
Sport & Fitness | 40% |
Event Tickets | 18% |
Flowers, Greetings & Misc. Gifts | 14% |
Home & Garden | 6% |
Consumer Electronics (excluding PC Peripherals) | 1% |
Computers, Peripherals & PDAs | 0% |
Apparel & Accessories | -2% |
Toys & Hobbies | -3% |
Jewelry & Watches | -11% |
Music, Movies & Videos | -29% |
Source: comScore |
65% of Americans would prefer cash to gifts for 2008 holidays
65% of Americans would prefer to receive $100 in cash, instead of a specific present or a gift card of the same value. This result is up nine points from Western Union’s first survey, fielded in mid-September 2008. 53% of those who would prefer cash would use that money on basic living expenses such as gas, groceries and bills. Only 14% would spend it on a treat for themselves. 79% of Americans believe cash is a good gift because people can use it to get what they really want. There has been a dramatic drop in the number of respondents who plan to give gift cards for services such as a manicure or a pre-paid phone card. Two months ago that figure was 40%, but now the number is 30%.
62% of those with household incomes of less than $50,000 are likely to give cash. 53% of those with more than $50,000 in household income are likely to give cash. 65% of Americans said they often end up spending more on gifts than they had planned to spend.
Mobile audience growth by site category, April 2007 vs. April 2008
Site Category | YTY Growth in Unique Visitors | |
Banking | 91% | |
Search | 68% | |
Traffic | 65% | |
Maps | 64% | |
Weather | 57% | |
News | 54% | |
Source: comScore |
Have you ever logged onto your credit card Web site?
Response | 2007 | 2008 | Change |
Yes | 69% | 73% | +4 |
No | 31% | 27% | -4 |
Source: comScore |
2.6% of flyers strongly agree that the additional fees after purchasing an airline ticket are acceptable
Question: How much do you agree or disagree with the statement, “The additional fees imposed after purchasing an airline ticket are acceptable.”
Response | Percent | |
Strongly agree | 2.6 | |
Agree | 4.6 | |
Agree somewhat | 14.6 | |
Disagree somewhat | 23.7 | |
Disagree | 25.4 | |
Strongly disagree | 29.1 | |
Source: comScore |
49% of shoppers do their holiday gift buying online
Nearly half (49%) of those shoppers say they intend to do their holiday gift buying online, compared with 44% who plan to do so in-store, found the online survey of over 1,000 adults who shop online four or more times per year, spending at least $500 annually, according to ATG