• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 10, 2002

Smaller is Looking Better Except The City By the Sea

Marketers are taking a closer look and incorporating local audiences into their overall strategies. A ranking of the fastest growing markets since the beginning of this year reveals that smaller regions are catching up. Interestingly, the San Francisco market, among the most wired regions and perhaps the hardest-hit when the dot-com bubble burst, ranks tenth. Further details on this finding - including the latest consumer online spending metrics and worldwide traffic highlights -- are included in the latest edition of comScore Media Metrix' Week on the Web.

Overall Consumer Spending for the week ending August 25, 2002 is driven largely by consumers' return from summer vacations and back-to-school promotion. Total consumer online sales grew to $1.5 billion, up 31 percent versus the same week last year. Non-travel sales growth continues to accelerate, with sales up 43 percent versus the same week last year and reaching $885 million. Following strong performance tied to late-summer promotions, and approaching the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, Travel growth slowed to 16 percent versus year-ago, with the sector posting $560 million in sales.

Local-market audiences have long been among the most significant targets in offline marketing, but have remained largely untapped in the online world due to a lack of clear information. A ranking of the fastest growing markets since the beginning of this year reveals that smaller regions are catching up. Interestingly, Silicon Valley, among the most wired regions and perhaps the hardest-hit when the dot-com bubble burst, is still growing enough to make this top 10 growth ranking.

Top 10 Fastest Growing Markets

	July 2002 Visitors	% Change Jan to Jul 2002
Harrisburg - Lncstr - York	786,229	3.5%
Oklahoma City	792,220	3.2%
Jacksonville - Brunswick	718,057	3.2%
Greensboro - W. Salem	804,796	3.0%
Albuquerque-Santa Fe	772,967	3.0%
Hartford - New Haven	1,210,939	3.0%
Grand Rapids - Kalamazoo	888,893	2.8%
Charleston-Huntington	610,130	2.7%
Toledo	532,224	2.7%
San Francisco - Oak - San Jose	3,087,005	2.6%
Total United States	13,375,697	2.1%