• by October 16, 2001

Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive today reported that ecommerce spending in September 2001 jumped 54 percent from the previous year to $4.7 billion, marking a dollar increase of nearly $1.7 billion.

The latest study from Nielsen//NetRatings Harris Interactive eCommercePulse, collected from an online survey of 36,000 Web users, shows that the number of online buyers hit a new record, with nearly 39 million people buying last month.

"An unprecedented number of people embraced ecommerce last month, exceeding even the huge number of buyers during the December holiday," said Sean Kaldor, VP of analytical services at NetRatings. "Despite recent national events, the number of online buyers actually grew four percent from August."

The travel category maintained the top spot as the biggest revenue maker for the month with consumers spending more than $1.1 billion. The category has grown 44% since last year, however, revenues decreased 23% from August to September reflecting the challenges resulting from current travel restrictions and concerns.

"Travel accounts for nearly a quarter of all online spending so a downturn in this critical category dampens the entire ecommerce sector," continued Kaldor. "But as a partial counterbalance, several categories did extremely well. For example, books grew 148% to $300 million, setting a new record for the category during a non-holiday month."

Online shoppers spent $494 million on clothing and apparel last month, jumping 79% year-over-year. Rounding out the top three categories, auctions took in $407 million in online sales.

eCommercePulse Total Monthly Online Spending and Number of Buyers

+--------+---------------|---------------+ 
| Month  |  Dollar Spent |  Total Buyers | 
|        |  in millions  | (in millions) | 
+--------+---------------+---------------+ 
| Sep-00
|     $3,086    |      30.9     | 
| Oct-00 |     $3,703    |      30.9     | 
| Nov-00 |     $4,788    |      31.9     | 
| Dec-00 |     $7,223    |      36.1     | 
| Jan-01 |     $3,780
|      37.8     | 
| Feb-01 |     $3,390    |      33.9     | 
| Mar-01 |     $3,517    |      35.2     | 
| Apr-01 |     $4,489    |      35.9     | 
| May-01 |     $5,383    |      35.9
| 
| Jun-01 |     $5,299    |      35.3     | 
| Jul-01 |     $4,932    |      35.2     | 
| Aug-01 |     $5,562    |      37.1     | 
| Sep-01 |     $4,743    |      38.6     |

+--------+---------------+---------------+ 
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris Interactive, September 2001

 Top eCommercePulse
Category, Ranked by Online Spending, September 2001  
+----------------------+-------------+-------------+------+ 
|       Category       |  $ Spent    |  $ Spent    |   %  | 
|
| Sept. 2000  | Sept. 2001  |Growth| 
|                      |(in millions)|(in millions)|      | 
+----------------------+-------------+-------------+------+ 
| 1. Travel Services   |
$795    |   $1,148    |  44% | 
| 2. Clothing/Apparel  |     $276    |     $494    |  79% | 
| 3. Auctions          |     $173    |     $407    | 135% | 
| 4. Computer Hardware |     $226
|     $380    |  68% | 
| 5. Books             |     $121    |     $300    | 148% | 
+----------------------+-------------+-------------+------+ 
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings and Harris
Interactive, September 2001