• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, December 26, 2006

Nielsen//NetRatings announced that visits to the Holiday eShopping Index grew 20 percent year over year in the week ending December 10th, from 469 million to 563 million. Toys/Video Games was the fastest growing product category during the same time period, with visits increasing 49 percent. Books/Music/Videos was the second fastest growing product category year over year, increasing 46 percent, followed by Consumer Electronics with 27 percent growth.

eBay led the top online shopping destinations during the most recent week, with 34.2 million unique visitors. Amazon took the No. 2 spot, and Wal-Mart.com rounded out the top three.

The top five fastest growing online shopping destinations indicate that Web visitors are not only looking for gifts online, but also ways to escape and save time during this busy time of year.

Shopping comparison Web site MySimon was the fastest growing online shopping destination year over year during the week ending December 10th, increasing 124 percent. Web traffic to ChoiceHotels.com, which offers good deals on a variety of accommodations, grew 76 percent year over year. And finally, Web traffic grew 76 percent year over year as tired cooks logged on to Schwan's Home Service, which ships prepared meals from their kitchen to your freezer.

(**Note: Indicates these Web sites do not meet minimum sample size standards. Projected and average measures for these sites may exhibit large changes month-to-month as a result.)

For more information, please visit Nielsen/NetRatings here.