• by Masha Geller , December 20, 2001

Jupiter Media Metrix today released the fourth installment of its weekly Holiday 2001 E-Commerce Series, revealing that the Media Metrix Online Shopping Index increased 55% last week versus the same week last year, climbing from 33.8 million to 52.3 million unique visitors.

While the index is down one-tenth of a percent versus the week before, the year-over-year growth of 55% compares strongly to the 25% annual growth rate of the same week last year.

"The growth trajectory increased each week during the first four weeks of this year's holiday shopping period, which is in marked contrast to last year when year-over-year growth rates declined each week," said Charles Buchwalter, VP of media research at JMM.

"That translates into a holiday season where the majority of online shopping activity occurs closer to Christmas versus earlier in the shopping season," he added.

"Many consumers waited until late in the holiday season to make their gift purchases, and many were searching for late-season discounts," said Jupiter Research analyst Jared Blank. "The late-season momentum of this year's online holiday traffic suggests that this year's sales expectations are likely to be exceeded.

"Moreover, steady traffic to many bricks-and-mortar sites indicates that consumers are researching online with the intent of buying in the actual stores, highlighting the need for retailers to integrate their online and offline operations."

Last week's top gaining shopping sites, ranked according to their percent-growth in average daily visitors versus the previous week, included: Netflix.com, which increased 117% to 586,000 average daily visitors; Hallmark.com, which increased 71% to 415,000 average daily visitors; and Egreetings.com, which increased 63% to 287,000 average daily visitors.