Six of top 10 apparel/beauty sites experience declining visits in August

Six of the top 10 online apparel and beauty sites experienced a decrease in traffic in August, with three experiencing double-digit declines, according to Nielsen/NetRatings.

EBay Jewelry and Watches had the largest decrease in visits, dropping 35% to 3 million from 4.6 million in the year-earlier period. EBay Clothing Shoes & Accessories posted the second-largest drop, declining 23% to 7.1 million from 9.2 million; followed by Gap, down 12% to 2.3 million from 2.6 million; Lands` End, down 4% to 2.4 million from 2.5 million; Avon, down 4% to 2.4 million from 2.5 million; and Old Navy, down 2% to 2.52 million from 2.57 million.

Only three apparel and beauty sites experienced increased visits in August: Zappos.com, up 53% to 2.9 million from 1.9 million; LLBean.com, up 25% to 2.5 million from 2 million; and VictoriasSecret.com, up 9% to 2.78 million from 2.54 million.

Ebay Clothing, Shoes & Accessories recorded the most traffic, followed by eBay Jewelry and Watches, Zappos.com, VictoriasSecret.com, Old Navy, eBay Health & Beauty (2.5 million), LLBean.com; Lands` End, Avon, and Gap.

In the top 10 apparel and beauty sites ranked by time per visit, Mary Kay led with 38 minutes, 44 seconds; followed by Avon, 32 minutes, 27 seconds; Blair.com, 18 minutes, 38 seconds; Lands’ End, 18 minutes, 16 seconds; Roamans, 17 minutes, 2 seconds; Old Navy, 16 minutes; Hollister Co., 14 minutes, 33 seconds; Eddie Bauer, 13 minutes, 44 seconds; eBay Clothing, Shoes & Accessories, 12 minutes, 59 seconds; and SierraTradingPost.com, 11 minutes, 58 seconds.

Also in August, the food and beverage segment had the most online impressions in the consumer goods industry, according to Nielsen/NetRatings’ AdRelevance report: The leading segments in the report and their number of impressions (in millions) are:

Food & Beverage, 1,683.6
Personal Care, 1,012.1
Print Publishing, 798.1
Apparel & Jewelry, 731.3
Home & Garden, 466.3
Automotive Supply, 198.3
Toy & Hobby, 119.2
Recreational Gear, 95.8