Top audio books in 2008

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

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

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

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-selling products on Black Friday 2008

PriceGrabber.com published the list of top products sold on Black Friday 2008.

  1. Nintendo Wii Console
  2. Ugg Australia ‘Classic Short’ Boot
  3. Sony BDP-S350 1080p Blu-Ray Disc Player
  4. Samsung LN52A650 52″ LCD TV
  5. Nintendo Wii Fit
  6. Panasonic TH-42PX80U 42″ Plasma TV
  7. Sennheiser HD 555 Headphones
  8. Canon EOS Rebel XSi Black SLR Digital Camera Kit
  9. Acer Aspire One AOA110-1295 Notebook
  10. 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.

  1. Women’s Boots – 203%
  2. Watches – 202%
  3. Blu-ray/HD-DVD Players – 147%
  4. Women’s Sleep & Lounge Wear – 415%
  5. Games & Puzzles – 151%
  6. Women’s Jackets – 110%
  7. Music – 96%
  8. Headphones – 103%
  9. Women’s Dresses – 107%
  10. Women’s Casual Shoes – 143%

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.