Media Metrix today released the first installment of its Holiday 2000 E-commerce Series, revealing the first comprehensive retail Web-site measurement results for the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday among users at home and work combined. The number of different people visiting retail sites during the week of Thanksgiving and Black Friday increased by 40.3% compared to the same week last year, with the Media Metrix Online Shopping Index climbing from 25.1 million to 35.2 million unique visitors. Jupiter Research, in a separate announcement today, revealed that over 50% of online retailers say they are confident they will be able to handle high volumes of orders this holiday season versus last year, when only 10% were confident of their sites' infrastructures. Jupiter cautions, however, that online retailers could leave shoppers hanging in the event of a site crash, due to their lack of customer-service contingency plans. Amazon.com and Mypoints.com were the number-one and number-two retail sites overall for the week of Thanksgiving for the second year in a row. Amazon.com had 960,000 and 1.5 million average daily unique visitors in 1999 and 2000, respectively, and Mypoints.com had 897,000 and 1.4 million average daily unique visitors in 1999 and 2000, respectively. Peoplepc.com and Radioshack.com were the top gaining retail sites during Thanksgiving week in 2000, with 87.3 and 82.7% increases in their average daily unique visitors over the prior week, respectively. Books and Computers were the top retail subcategories during Thanksgiving week, with 2.1 million and 2.0 million average daily unique visitors, respectively. Footwear and Games were the top gaining retail subcategories, with 64.0 and 40.0% increases in their average daily unique visitors over the prior week, respectively. Because Media Metrix is able to report Internet usage at home and work combined, it observed a decline in visitors to retail sites on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, when most Americans were away from their workplace and home computers. Daily traffic to retail sites declined by 23.5% and 16.3% for Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, respectively, compared to the Thursday and Friday the prior week. However, traffic increased 6.9% and 8.0% the Saturday and Sunday of Black Friday weekend, respectively, compared to the Saturday and Sunday the prior week. "Despite the widely publicized snags consumers experienced while shopping online last holiday season, consumer confidence online remains strong as indicated by the year-over-year increase in the Media Metrix Online Shopping Index," said Anne Rickert, measurement analyst, Media Metrix.
The "2001 Global and U.S. Media and Marketing Spending Forecast" released today by Myers Reports, Inc. predicts an overall U.S. media spending increase of 4.9% and a media economy that will be slow - particularly for the first half of the year - but not recessionary. Global media spending (non-U.S.) is projected to rise 2.5% in 2001. "This market represents more a return to normalcy and reality than it does any type of sustained media economy recession," said Jack Myers, chief economist for Myers Reports. "Our projections reflect more positive marketplace conditions than negative. In fact, the 2001 market will be stronger than we had originally projected when we issued our first 2001 forecast one year ago." Myers pointed out that his firm had been warning clients about a fourth quarter 2000 downturn since 1998. He said he still expects the market to be soft during the first half of 2001, "but we are projecting a nice recovery by the fourth quarter of 2001 that will build toward sustained media industry growth in 2002 and for several years thereafter." He said this growth will be fueled in large part by new interactive media technologies. "To those accustomed to regular double-digit increases in spending, the 2001 market will feel like a recessionary one," Myers said. "But a more accurate description would be to call it 'slowing media inflation.'" Myers added: "The first half of 2000 had gangbuster growth, leading many media organizations to have false hopes and expectations for the full year. However, our research among marketers identified several months ago that budgetary cutbacks were inevitable based on a post-election economic slump and concerns about consumer holiday spending. This is compounded by major set-backs in the auto industry and the virtual shut-down of dot-com spending. We have adjusted our 2001 forecasts upward, however, based on current research among marketers confirming their overall confidence in the long-term economy, a continued belief in the vitality of traditional media, and expectations that new media will become increasingly productive as direct marketing resources." Myers forecasts continued strong growth for online media (+70%), reflecting a belief that advertisers and agencies increasingly will move online into the media mainstream. "We see more stability in the industry," Myers said. "The major online 'networks' and specialty players like AOL, Yahoo, MSN, About.com, as well as online sites of traditional media companies, will continue to grow and become standard components of major media buys." Myers' other media spending forecasts for 2001 are newspaper (+2%), broadcast networks (+3.6%), national spot television (+2.5%), local spot television (+2%), broadcast syndication (+2.6%), radio (+9%), yellow pages (flat), consumer magazines (+7%), network cable (+14%), local/regional cable (+18%) and outdoor (+16%). Myers also predicts a 3% gain for direct mail, 7% for consumer sales promotion
Companies that are spending lavishly on Web brand marketing and advertising in hopes of attracting young and trendy customers to their websites are overlooking the most profitable consumer sector and the simplest marketing remedies. These are just two of the surprising findings of an eBranding study conducted by Andersen Consulting and Online Insight. The nationwide study on Internet marketing spending, "Beyond the Blur: Correcting the Vision of Internet Brands," shows that companies could realize dramatic returns from online marketing efforts if only they targeted their marketing to the ten percent of the population that buys 70% of all products online. That ten percent is primarily comprised of people 35-and-older, not the GenX segment so often associated with the Internet. Furthermore, the study found that the best ways to reach the buying public are: - Provide a rewarding customer experience, instead of barraging them with massive brand advertising. - Recognize who their customer really is; consumer needs are very, very different between segments and a website should not be designed as "one size fits all." "When it comes to online marketing initiatives, companies are ignoring the basic marketing principles traditional businesses use - first, choose your target more deliberately, and then focus marketing efforts to reach them," said Stephen Dull, partner in Andersen Consulting's eBranding practice. "Instead, many companies are spending a lot of money on sweeping Internet marketing initiatives and huge advertising buys that are not targeted. This study affirms that 'Marketing 101' applies in the Internet world. Success is not achieved by throwing around as much money as possible, but by inspiring customers to buy more." This U.S.-focused B2C research of online customers, offers important new insight into the perceptions of digital consumers. The landmark study's findings will help companies to measure and understand the true driving force behind their online customers' purchasing and, in turn, to devise better brand-building strategies across all customer interactions. The study's findings are especially vital to companies seeking to profit from online marketing initiatives during the expensive holiday and Super Bowl advertising cycle. Another surprising finding is that nearly a third of online consumers are not motivated by price. According to the study, these online consumers are more interested in website speed, ease of use, security and overall brand selection. "The secret to building brand equity is not so much in huge advertising buys, fancy logos or constant price-slashing; it's in fully understanding customers' needs and providing them with an exceptional experience tailored to those needs," said Dull. The comprehensive study's findings are pertinent to companies seeking to establish, build, and sustain an Internet brand. The study measured the desires of more than 2,000 online purchasers using B2C web