Comparison shopping online is important to a significant number of online shoppers, comScore Networks Inc.’s Media Metrix division reports. In November, 23.6 million shoppers--27% of the 88 million who went to retail sites--visited shopping comparison sites, Media Metrix says. That’s 17% of the U.S.’s total Internet population of 143.3 million.
Shopping comparison traffic grew as holiday shopping got under way, growing from 19.5 million in September to 23.6 million in November. Time spent at comparison sites during that period grew from 91 minutes to 110.
The most popular comparison site is Dealtime.com, with 9.5 million visitors in November. No. 2 was BizRate.com with 7.12 million. Falling far behind the leaders were Nextag.com at 3.6 million, PriceGrabber.com at 3.1 million and MySimon.com at 1.6 million.
“Many consumers find comfort in shopping at a few popular and trusted web retailers, and a similar pattern appears to be occurring in the
Comparison Shopping category,” Media Metrix says.
Comparison shopping breaks down at 51% male, even though men represent 49% of Internet users. Middle-age users are more likely to comparison shop than users over 65 or under 25. Use of comparison shopping goes up as income goes up; least likely users were under $25,000 in annual income and most likely were over $75,000. Finally, broadband users are more likely to comparison shop than dial-up users.
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