• by January 18, 2005

More holiday-related online traffic tallies are in today. ComScore Media Metrix reports that holiday-related content dominated online traffic in December with seasonal sites accounting for eight of the top 10 gaining properties and nine of the top 10 gaining categories.

More than 132 million people, or four out of every five online consumers in the United States, visited retail sites in December according to comScore. Five of the top 10 gaining categories in December were retail-oriented and the fastest growing retail subcategory, jewelry/luxury goods and accessories, increased 30 percent from November to December and 15 percent over the same period in 2003. Coach.com, BlueNile.com, and Zales.com each grew 70 percent or more over November visitor levels.

The department stores category increased 20 percent in December versus November. Walmart.com had an increase of 37 percent, almost twice that of the category. With 32 million visitors in December, Walmart.com was the third-largest retail property online, behind eBay and Amazon.

While every major site in the department stores category increased, leaders included Kmart (up 49 percent), May Department Stores (42 percent), and Federated Department Stores (35 percent).

E-card sites also experienced traffic gains spurred by visitors to sites in the e-Cards and flowers, gifts, and greetings categories. Nearly 48 million consumers visited e-Card sites to send or view virtual holiday cards in December. The flowers, gifts, and greetings category grew 20 percent with RedEnvelope.com, Proflowers.com, and HarryandDavid.com experiencing substantial growth in December. 1-800-Flowers jumped 44 percent between November and December.