Cyber Monday E-Commerce Spending Beats Forecast; Climbs 25 Percent Versus Last Year to $608 Million, According to Comscore Networks

300,000 Visitors Flock to Shop.org's CyberMonday.com

RESTON, Va., November 29, 2006 – Comscore Networks, a leader in measuring the digital age, today released data on consumer online non-travel (retail) spending at U.S. sites for Cyber Monday and the 2006 holiday season to date. Cyber Monday, which marks the first major spike in online holiday spending as people returned to work after the Thanksgiving weekend, saw slightly higher than expected gains. Cyber Monday sales totaled $608 million, up 26 percent versus the same day last year. During the first 27 days of November this year, total online retail spending reached $9.48 billion, marking a 24-percent increase versus the corresponding days in 2005.

"Online consumer spending on Cyber Monday this year reached $608 million, making it the highest single day in retail e-commerce history and the first day ever to break the $600 million threshold," said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of Comscore Networks. "While it was certainly an historic achievement, the online holiday shopping season is just beginning to kick into high gear. Having analyzed and reported on online sales for more than five years, we fully expect several days in the coming weeks to eclipse the spending that occurred on Cyber Monday."

CyberMonday.com Draws More Than 300,000 Visitors on Cyber Monday
CyberMonday.com, Shop.org's online hub for holiday season discounts, saw consumers flood the site on its namesake day as they hunted for great online deals. The site attracted 300,000 U.S. visitors on Monday, or approximately the same number of visitors that PriceGrabber.com, one of the leading price-comparison shopping engines, draws in an average day.

“The online retail marketplace has become extremely competitive, and we're seeing that play out with some pretty significant discounting to win over consumers early in the holiday shopping season, much of which was advertised at CyberMonday.com" commented Mr. Fulgoni. "While online sales have certainly seen a strong start to the holiday season, it will be interesting to see if all of this discounting ends up cutting into retailers' profit margins.”

Weekly Online Holiday Retail Sales

Please contact press@comscore.com to receive the data behind the above for use in graphical representation.

Comscore Networks 2006 E-Commerce Forecast

*Comscore Networks forecast

About Comscore Networks
Comscore Networks is a global leader in measuring the digital age. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. Comscore consultants apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, Verizon, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Tribune Interactive, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, MBNA, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com.

Press
Bill Daddi
Daddi Brand Communications
646-370-1341
press@comscore.com