• by OMMA Editors , December 25, 2010

Based on analysis of over 200 million unique consumers across the BlueKai Exchange, the BlueKai Pulse report provides a snapshot of popular shopping intent activity across auto, travel and retail verticals this past month.

Analysis of November data shows a significant increase in online purchase intent for popular holiday gifts such as video games, gaming consoles and eBook readers, and of course, a spike in holiday decorations.

RETAIL

In anticipation of the holiday gift-giving season, there was a significant increase in purchase intent for consumer electronics such as eBook readers, Nintendo video games, Xbox 360 consoles and digital photo frames. The November 4, 2010 release of the Kinect for Xbox 360 is a strong indicator for the spike in purchase intent for the Xbox 360 consoles. Also, shopping intent for holiday season décor doubled from the month of October while costume attire intent activity declined considerably after Halloween.

TRAVEL

CHART 1

In November, a decline in advanced bookings of 61-90 days for air travel and hotels & lodging bookings correlates to the end of the holiday travel season. The Canadian Football League's 98th Annual Grey Cup Championship reflected an increase in purchase intent for air travel and vacation packages to Edmonton, Canada. There was also an increase in shoppers in-market for warmer destinations such as hotels & lodging bookings to Fort Lauderdale and air travel to Puerto Vallarta. In addition, an increase in hotels & lodging bookings made 91 or more days in advance can be associated to consumers planning mid-winter getaways.

AUTO

The BlueKai Pulse is an analysis of data from the BlueKai Exchange, the world's largest online auction marketplace that manages anonymous intent data on over 200 million unique consumers across top-tier e-commerce, online travel agency and auto comparison sites. Intent actions are defined as views of specific models or brand pages on automotive comparison Web sites, trip configurations for flights, hotels, car rentals, cruises, or vacation packages on travel Web sites and activity on retail price comparison or e-commerce sites.

"Top 10" is defined by overall data volume which indicates the most popular categories in each vertical. "Gainers and Decliners" reflect the most significant month-to-month jumps or falls for specific intent actions, which is indicative of seasonal shopping behaviors.