Summer Season Winners on the Internet

The total number of U.S. Internet users remained steady from April to May 2003, according to comScore Media Metrix, but certain types of site always pick up visitors in the summer months while others lose out to outdoor activities. Categories such as clothing, movies, weather and property experienced significant increases in visits in May.

With the temperature beginning to rise across the country, consumers are turning to the Web to shop for summer clothes. Analysis of online shopping revealed that apparel sales were up more than 50 per cent in the six weeks ending June 1, 2003 versus the corresponding period last year. While this trend echoes strength in offline retail sales (see 6th June's DRNO), the scale of growth suggests a continued shift in apparel buying from offline to online channels.

Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings films may have shifted attention in the movie world towards end-of-year blockbuster releases, but summer always sees a rush of movies along with a mass of marketing activity and consequently an increase in Web site visits for the sector. This year has been heavily based around sci-fi and special effects films with X-Men, the Hulk and the Matrix sequel headlining - for obvious reasons these are particularly Web-friendly. IntoTheMatrix.com, which features animated short films related to The Matrix feature films, saw its audience more than triple from April to May 2003. Overall, visits to sites in the Entertainment-Movies category grew by 14 per cent from April to May.

Ticket sites benefit from summer films and other seasonal forms of entertainment: in May, nearly 23 million Americans visited a site in the Tickets category, representing an increase of 14 per cent over the previous month. All of the top five sites in the category saw an increase in visitors, with the biggest increases at Movietickets.com and Fandango.com. Consumers spent $237 million on event tickets in May, which is traditionally a strong month for event ticket sites.

Summer is a time for dieting for many Americans. In May, a number of major diet and fitness Web sites saw significant increases in visits. One of the main beneficiaries was www.Cookinglight.com which grew nearly 400 per cent.

With interest rates at record lows the Real Estate/(property) category grew an impressive 10 per cent from April to May 2003, with 17 of the top 20 sites seeing increased visitor numbers. More than 10 million people visited the Homestore Network in May, an increase of 13 per cent versus April. The Homestore Network includes a number of major real estate sites such as Realtor.com, Century21.com, Homebuilder.com and ColdwellBanker.com. Agentconnect.com experienced the single largest spike in visitors of any major Real Estate site, growing 93 per cent from April to May.

More information is available at www.comscore.com

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas unless otherwise stated.

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