Nielsen//NetRatings today reported that Internet mass retailers with strong offline brands are driving mainstream shoppers online, according to June 2001 at-home data. Walmart.com led the top
brick-and-mortar mass retailers, attracting more than two million unique visitors and soaring 133% since last year.
JCPenney followed a close second, jumping 34% to two million unique visitors.
Kmart took the No. 3 spot with nearly 1.7 million visitors. Target.com seized the highest percentage growth among the brick-and-mortar sites, skyrocketing 142% in June 2001 to more than 1.6 million
visitors, compared to 672,000 visitors last year. Rounding out the top five was Sears.com, drawing nearly 1.6 million visitors.
Sean Kaldor, VP of analytical services at NetRatings said, "It's been
a close online race among the top traditional mass retailers, but the bottom line is that having strong brand recognition and a large established customer base has proven to be a winning formula for
brick-and-mortars."