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Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Dougherty - North America

Analyst Weblog

Category Archives: Shopping and Classifieds

Retail traffic on Cyber Monday up 29%

November 30, 2011

On the heels of a very successful Black Friday, holiday shopping trends continue on an upward trajectory. On Cyber Monday, November 28th, total US visits to the Top 500 Retail websites increased 29% on Cyber Monday as compared to 2010... Continue reading...

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Retail traffic on Black Friday up 2%

November 26, 2011

Total US visits to the top 500 Retail websites increased 2% on Black Friday as compared to 2010 and received more than 173 million US visits. Traffic has increased each day leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday and the total... Continue reading...

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Valentines eating their hearts … and fruit out

February 18, 2011

What were the popular Valentine’s Day gifts this year? To identify new trends, we’ve taken a look at the top gift related terms that sent traffic to the Experian Hitwise category of Flowers and Gifts leading up to the much... Continue reading...

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In Categories Retail | Search Strategies | Shopping and Classifieds | Valentine's Day

Affluent shoppers love coupons too

January 20, 2011

Everyone loves a bargain and during the holiday season, searches for coupons and discount codes are always commonplace as shoppers quickly check for promotions from specific retailers before making a purchase (e.g. jcpenney coupons, proflowers coupon free shipping). Searches increased... Continue reading...

Holiday retail gets more social

January 05, 2011

With Facebook ranked as the #1 website in the US, retailers have been increasingly turning to social media to communicate with current and potential customers, particularly during the critical holiday shopping season. As a traffic driver, the Social Networking and... Continue reading...

Retail traffic up throughout holidays

December 28, 2010

Despite fears after two previous lackluster seasons, initial holiday shopping reports are positive and consumers were back to spending again in 2010. One indicator of consumers’ intent to buy was increased traffic to the Retail 500 throughout the holiday season.... Continue reading...

Holiday Shopping Coupon Searches

December 21, 2010

Visits to retailers have been higher each week during the 2010 holiday season as compared to last year (8% increase for the week ending Dec. 18th, 2010) and coupled with the higher traffic are searches for coupons and promotional codes.... Continue reading...

Retailers Captured Increased Black Friday Search Traffic

November 04, 2010

Websites that aggregate Black Friday deals from retailers always start to garner more attention in the weeks building up to the Thanksgiving weekend as consumers start to research upcoming holiday purchases. Early shoppers have already started seeking information around Black... Continue reading...

Black Friday Search Activity

October 27, 2010

It’s only almost Halloween, but holiday shopping season will soon be upon us. Every year the weekend that includes both Thanksgiving and Black Friday acts as the official kick-off for holiday shopping - even though some shoppers start as early... Continue reading...

Strength in numbers for group buying deals

April 23, 2010

Social commerce and group buying has become increasingly popular these days, on Tuesday, The New York Times reported that Groupon received an investment of $135 million dollars from Digital Sky Technologies. Additionally, last month, another group buying website, LivingSocial, received... Continue reading...

Luxury retailers rebounding online

April 14, 2010

The economic downturn in the US had a strong impact upon consumers and resulted in a decline in discretionary spending for nearly two years. However in March, retailers started to report increased sales, signaling that consumer confidence may be increasing... Continue reading...

Searches aid offline purchases

December 16, 2009

Shoppers have plenty of gift buying left to do this season according to a survey released by the NRF which found that the average shopper had completed 46.7 percent of their holiday shopping by the second week of December, down... Continue reading...

Hot Products for 2009

December 10, 2009

Everyone is aware by now about the season’s hottest toy, Zhu Zhu Pets, especially after the brief scare regarding Mr. Squiggles toxicity (he has been fully exonerated). This year's other runaway hit and hard to find item is the Mindflex... Continue reading...

Thanksgiving and Black Friday Seasonal Traffic Patterns

November 24, 2009

When you start hearing about doorbuster sales and stores opening at 5 am, it can mean only one thing – Thanksgiving and Black Friday are almost upon us again! Retailers started to promote pre-Black Friday sales as early as late... Continue reading...

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Predictions

November 02, 2009

Holiday projections are out and many are predicting a gloomy holiday season for retailers. The NRF forecasts a 1% decline growth in total retail sales for the 2009 holiday season, totaling $437.6 billion. The online channel is poised to fare... Continue reading...

Resurgence of layaway programs continues

August 20, 2009

With many consumers remaining cautious with spending, retailers are turning to layaway programs again this holiday season to offer shoppers a payment plan to buy gifts. In 2008, layaway programs made a comeback as retailers hoped to encourage shoppers to... Continue reading...

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In Categories Holiday | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Bing Shopping takes off

August 14, 2009

Microsoft recently announced a promotion to receive Double Cashback when consumers use Bing Shopping for searches and online purchases. Back in October of last year, I wrote about the initial success of the Cashback program to capture visits, so this... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 11:37 AM | (4) | (2)
In Categories Bing | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Amazon acquires Zappos.com

July 22, 2009

Amazon announced a deal today to acquire apparel and footwear retailer Zappos.com. The popular online retailer ranked 3rd last week among online retailers within the Apparel and Accessories category behind Victoria’s Secret and Old Navy. Both Amazon and Zappos.com are... Continue reading...

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In Categories Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Online Sample Sales

June 12, 2009

Far safer than in the physical world where one can be easily bludgeoned by an elbow or shoe, online sample sales have continued to grow in popularity over the past year. Despite the poor economy, shoppers are flocking to the... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 04:43 PM | (1) | (0)
In Categories Retail | Shopping and Classifieds | fashion

Michelle Obama’s Impact on Fashion

May 07, 2009

Ever since First Lady Michelle Obama hit the press circuit, there has been a fascination with her clothing choices. Mrs. Obama’s selections from retailers like J Crew, White House Black Market and Talbots, that are affordable and obtainable by many... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 01:04 PM | (0)
In Categories Fashion | Retail | Search Strategies | Shopping and Classifieds

Last Minute Mother’s Day Planning

April 30, 2009

The countdown is on for retailers looking to capture Mother’s Day spending with 10 shopping days left (11 if you are the same-day delivery type, if so – buy online, pick-up in-store is for you). According to the National Retail... Continue reading...

Who Benefits from Circuit City Closure Online

April 09, 2009

Back in January, Circuit City announced ceasing all operations, so we thought it would be interesting to analyze which retailers have benefited from their exit in the market. The brand Circuit City is very well known and drove a significant... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 05:40 PM | (2) | (1)
In Categories Retail | Search Strategies | Shopping and Classifieds

Retail traffic still down

February 26, 2009

Not much good news is comes out of the retail industry lately, consumer confidence is at an all-time low and retailers have reported steep declines in revenue. The economic downturn also continues to impact overall visits to online retailers, which... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 06:03 PM | (0)
In Categories Economy | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Guest Post - Opportunities with Coupon Promotional Terms

February 17, 2009

At Hitwise our clients are always discovering new trends within our data and then applying them to their own businesses. From those findings we frequently get asked by clients to let them post their findings to our research blog to... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 10:32 AM | (2) | (0)
In Categories Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Snuggie slays the Slanket online

January 28, 2009

An article about the success of the Snuggie in AdAge on Monday prompted me to compare the popularity of the two competing 'blankets with arms' - the Snuggie and the Slanket. I’m sure everyone has been plagued with the problem... Continue reading...

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In Categories Holiday | Hot Products | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Circuit City to close all operations

January 19, 2009

On Friday, Circuit City announced that the company is closing 567 stores and will be laying off more than 30,000 workers. During the holiday season, despite being one the top visited websites among the Retail 500 on Thanksgiving (#5), Black... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 02:56 PM | (0)
In Categories Black Friday | Holiday | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Holiday Search Referral Growth

January 16, 2009

Search engines accounted for the largest share of upstream traffic to the Retail 500 ahead of cross-shopping on other retail websites and email during the holiday months of November and December. An integral part of every retailer’s marketing strategy; the... Continue reading...

The Season of Online Coupons

January 15, 2009

We all knew heading into the holiday season that consumers were going to be highly sensitive to price due to the economic conditions, paving the way for an increase in online deal seeking. Coupon websites experienced growth in visits throughout... Continue reading...

Hot Products - Toys and Electronics Categories

December 19, 2008

The short holiday season is rapidly coming to an end, but shoppers have not given up on looking for the hot products online. The Wii Fit continues to dominate the fast moving search terms list, when comparing the top searches... Continue reading...

Free shipping searches abound

December 18, 2008

Yesterday I posted about the uptick in traffic and searches related to coupons during this holiday season, but I would be remiss not to give special attention to one of the most popular online promotions of all – free shipping.... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 07:05 PM | (0)
In Categories Holiday | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Coupon traffic and searches continue to grow

December 17, 2008

Amid the trying financial climate, consumers are still doing some holiday shopping, although in more moderation than last year. For the week ending Dec. 13, 2008, the market share of visits to the Retail 500 represented 4.28% of all internet... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 12:52 PM | (1) | (0)
In Categories Holiday | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Holiday comparison - Brick & mortar vs. online-only retailers

December 12, 2008

One popular topic that comes up each year during the holiday season is comparing the amount of traffic to the websites of brick & mortar retailers to the online-only players. In order to perform the analysis, we created 2 custom... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 07:22 PM | (0)
In Categories Holiday | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Traffic to Web-only retailers increases on Thanksgiving and Black Friday

December 01, 2008

The holiday shopping season is officially upon us and for some online retailers, prospects may be rosier than expected thanks to heavy promotional activity to encourage spending (and unfortunately also erode profit margins). On Thanksgiving, which has been the heaviest... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 07:51 PM | (0)
In Categories Black Friday | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Retail traffic flat from 2007

November 25, 2008

Thanksgiving is almost here, time for turkey, pumpkin pie – and online shopping. Each year Thanksgiving is the peak traffic day to the Retail 500, particularly among many of the brick & mortar players, who use the online channel to... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 06:34 PM | (0)
In Categories Black Friday | Economy | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Black Friday countdown is on

November 21, 2008

With one week left to go, Black Friday (aka the day after Thanksgiving) is almost upon us. Historically, Black Friday sales were typically called After-Thanksgiving sales, but thanks to a growing number of websites leaking retailer promotions, Black Friday has... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 06:55 PM | (1) | (0)
In Categories Black Friday | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds

Traffic down to online retailers

October 14, 2008

Last week, several retailers announced steep same-store sales (based upon physical stores open for at least a year) declines in September as compared to previous years. Additionally, other economic indicators such as the Deloitte Research’s Leading Index of Consumer Spending... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 03:34 PM | (1) | (0)
In Categories Economy | Shopping and Classifieds

MSN Cashback successfully attracting visitors

October 03, 2008

This week MSN announced the launch of SearchPerks!, a new promotion that rewards visitors that use Live Search with tickets redeemable for various prizes. The latest endeavor is separate from the Live Search Cashback rebate program launched a few months... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 12:21 PM | (6) | (1)
In Categories Search Engines | Shopping and Classifieds

Online shopping traffic remains strong

August 18, 2008

One sector that we continually monitor here at Hitwise for insight into consumer behavior is traffic to the Shopping & Classifieds category. Given the current economic climate, price sensitivity is driving more visits to the websites of online retailers, coupons,... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 09:28 AM | (0)
In Categories Search Engines | Shopping and Classifieds

Summer of the FitFlop

July 23, 2008

As an avid NYC walker I am fascinated by shoes that are designed to help you exercise – shoes that turn an ordinary walk into a ‘workout’. One of the first ones I learned about was the ‘MBT’ walking shoe,... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 11:46 AM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Shopping traffic up – but is it the tax rebates?

June 12, 2008

Today the US Commerce Department reported a gain in retail sales for May 2008, attributing the increase in consumer spending (at least partially) to the tax stimulus checks that were sent out during the month. We have also been theorizing... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 02:54 PM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

School's out! Social networks on the rise

June 10, 2008

Today I am speaking at the Internet Retailer conference at a session called 'New Frontiers: Marketing and Merchandising on Social Media'. Since the discussion could never be complete without a look at the traffic on social networks, I checked to... Continue reading...

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The Gap brings all of their brands together online

May 30, 2008

Earlier this week The Gap publically launched ‘universality’ across the websites of their four brands – linking them through navigation, a single shopping cart and shipping & fulfillment. Each of the brands certainly has a specific identity and target market,... Continue reading...

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In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Price conscious consumers seeking deals online

May 08, 2008

On Sunday I presented at the eMetrics Industry Insights Day on high-level Internet behavioral trends. One trend that I discussed is the rise of consumers using the Internet to save money (even more so than usual!) through searches for coupons,... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 11:35 AM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

JCPenney’s American Living Launch

March 05, 2008

During last week’s broadcast of the Oscar awards, JCPenney launched the new American Living line (through a partnership with Polo Ralph Lauren Corp.) of apparel & home products. American Living is the biggest merchandise launch in JCPenney’s history, so I... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 04:38 PM | (3) | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Valentine’s Day planning challenges (and hope for procrastinators)

February 14, 2008

The celebration of Valentine’s Day is an annual tradition that brings stars to the eyes of some and terror to the hearts of others. For those that love the holiday, planning for the big day presents a challenge for gift... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 05:20 PM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Ticketmaster makes its move to master online ticket reselling

January 16, 2008

Ticketmaster has purchased secondary market ticket seller TicketsNow.com (WSJ cites price of $265 million) in an effort to capture (and share with partner venues, artists, etc.) more revenue from ticket reselling. This move will help Ticketmaster compete more directly with... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 02:24 PM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Woot - there it is!

January 14, 2008

Rumors are circulating (again), that woot! has received an investment from Amazon. While this may just be speculation, it reminded me that several of my friends have been addicted to this website for some time. They diligently check woot! each... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 01:15 PM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Shipping deadlines loom for holiday gifts

December 20, 2007

With the majority of standard shipping deadlines upon us from online retailers, traffic has increased for the websites of major shipping providers. For these websites, avoiding a site failure should be easy thanks to the predictability of the peaks. Historically,... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 06:45 PM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Social Shopping Still Small, but Usage Increasing

December 19, 2007

The advent of consumer-generated content focused specifically on shopping has driven a significant amount of user reviews on a variety of blogs, retail sites, and comparison shopping engines. With the exception of some blogs, the majority of the reviewers lack... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 12:36 PM | (2) | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Viral Hit 'Elf Yourself' Leading Humor Website

December 13, 2007

In case you were wondering what you would like as an elf, Office Max has brought back last year's popular microsite Elf Yourself. The website allows users to upload photos of up to 4 people to generate personalized, dancing elves... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 12:11 PM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Alternative Online Payment Growing In Popularity

December 12, 2007

Traffic to the Alternative Payments Category is up 17% for the week ending Dec. 8, 2007 over same week during the previous year. The main driver of this growth was from the increase in traffic to Bill Me Later, which... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 01:10 PM | (5) | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Nintendo Wii Hunt is on - Comparison Shopping Traffic off to Early Start

December 05, 2007

On Tuesday, Dec. 4, I presented at Search Engine Strategies in Chicago on a panel titled "Shopping Search Tactics". I have included a high level summary of some of the key points from the presentation with some exclusive new analysis.... Continue reading...

Tweet Posted by Heather Dougherty at 11:45 PM | (0)
In Categories Shopping and Classifieds

Heather Dougherty

Director, Research at Hitwise.