RESTON, USA: ComScore Inc., a company dedicated to measuring the digital world, has released its monthly analysis of U.S. web activity at the top online properties for November 2010 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service.

According to the report, November marked the official start of the holiday shopping season, sending Americans swarming retail and coupon sites to take advantage of early deals and promotions. Retailers offered attractive discounts and free shipping to draw early shoppers to their sites for purchase. Among the top gaining retail subcategories were Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories, Toys and Consumer Electronics, each growing at least 25 percent versus October.

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"As the holiday shopping season kicked-off in November, Americans were quick to take advantage of retailers' early promotions and savings in crossing a few items off their shopping list," said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix. "Cyber Monday – the Monday after Thanksgiving – came in as the heaviest online spending day on record in the U.S. which contributed a strong portion of traffic growth at retail and coupon sites."

Top 50 Properties

Yahoo! Sites ranked as the #1 property in November with 181.0 million visitors, followed by Google Sites with 178.7 million and Microsoft Sites with 175.7 million. Properties experiencing large movement included Target Corporation, jumping 13 positions to #27 with 39.8 million visitors, and Wal-Mart, up 10 positions to the #20 spot with 51.8 million visitors. BestBuy.com Sites ranked as the #1 gaining property for the month, capturing a spot on the top 50 ranking at #41 with 28.8 million visitors.

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Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking

Google Ad Network led the November Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 93.2 percent of Americans online, followed by Yahoo! Network Plus with an 86.1-percent reach, Yahoo! Sites with 85.3 percent and AOL Advertising with 85.0 percent. Vibrant Media climbed 6 positions to capture the #14 spot with a 68.0-percent reach, while Walmart.com appeared on the top 50 ranking at #49 with 22.9 percent.

Coupon Sites Spread Holiday Savings

Coupon Sites ranked as the top gaining category for November, providing promo codes and other discounts to consumers at the start of the holiday season. A record 44 million Americans visited a coupon site during month, up 40 percent since October. Groupon ranked as the #1 Coupon site with 10.0 million unique visitors (up 54 percent), followed by CouponCabin.com with 8.8 million visitors, representing a 400-percent increase. Coupons, Inc. came in third with 6.4 million, while BlackFriday.info saw 5.4 million visitors, a nearly 1,000-percent increase versus October. RetailMeNot.com rounded out the top five with 5.0 million visitors, up 20 percent.

Retail Mania Sweeps Web

Americans got a head start on holiday shopping in November, sending an all-time high of 179.5 million unique visitors to retail sites during the month. Amazon Sites took the top stop in the category with 83.9 million unique visitors in November (up 4 percent), followed by Wal-Mart with 51.8 million visitors (up 44 percent), Apple.com Worldwide Sites with 40.3 million and Target Corporation with 39.8 million (up 44 percent). Best Buy Sites ranked #5 in the category overall with 28.8 million visitors, an increase of 75 percent to rank as the top gaining property for November.

Jewelry/Luxury Goods/Accessories sites represented the top growing retail subcategory for November. More than 22 million Americans visited the category during the month, a 36-percent increase. BradfordExchange.com ranked first in the category with 2.5 million unique visitors (up 82 percent), followed by Coach.com with 1.8 million visitors (up 47 percent). Swarovski.com soared to 1.8 million visitors, up from just 142,000 in October, while Zale Corporation drew 1.8 million, a 54-percent increase.

Toys and Gadgets for All Ages

Toy sites also saw significant growth during the month, increasing 35 percent to 27.0 million visitors. Toysrus Sites took the top spot with 14.8 million visitors (up 71 percent), followed by The LEGO Group with 3.4 million (up 33 percent) and Disney Shopping with 2.2 million (up 19 percent). AmericanGirl.com ranked fourth with 2.0 million (up 64 percent) followed closely by Fisher Price with 2.0 million (up 30 percent).

The Consumer Electronics subcategory drew 53.3 million visitors in November, up 30 percent versus the prior month. BestBuy.com led the category with 27.4 million visitors during the month, up 84 percent versus October. Buy.com ranked second with 4.6 million visitors (up 9 percent), followed by RadioShack Corporation with 4.6 million visitors (up 68 percent), eBay Electronics U.S. with 4.3 million (up 21 percent), Samsung Group with 3.5 million (up 74 percent) and Sony Electronics with 3.4 million (up 83 percent).

(PRNewsWire)