More Than Two Thirds of Online Retail Purchases Are Transacted Via Broadband, According to Nielsen//Netratings

More Than Two Thirds of Online Retail Purchases Are Transacted Via Broadband, According to Nielsen//Netratings Nielsen//NetRatings Launches New MegaView Online Retail Service to Provide Marketers with Critical Online Retail Benchmarking NEW YORK, Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis, reported today that 69 percent of retail purchases transacted online were conducted via a broadband connection, compared to 31 percent transacted via narrowband or dial-up access during November 2004. The finding was derived from the new Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Online Retail service, which tracks online consumer retail activity and purchasing behavior and offers marketers competitive benchmarking, dollar spending insights and buyers' conversion rates. Custom research from MegaView Online Retail found that broadband consumers spend on average $158.21 per person, 34 percent higher than the $117.89 average spent by narrowband users (see Table 1). In addition, a broadband shopper showed a higher likelihood of converting to an online buyer; the conversion rate for broadband users reached 26 percent, compared to the conversion rate of narrowband users at 21 percent. "With 55 percent of online surfers utilizing broadband and broadband users spending more money online than narrowband surfers, there should be less concern about alienating the narrowband shopper," said Heather Dougherty, senior retail analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Increased broadband penetration rates should encourage retailers to maximize the customer experience and rethink their online business strategies to integrate rich media into Website design and advertising campaigns." The latest findings showed that broadband users connected to the Internet an average of 59 times, 34 percent more than narrowband users, who averaged 44 visits during November (see Table 2). In addition, broadband users visited online retail Websites more frequently, averaging 18 visits as compared to 14 visits by narrowband users. Broadband users also spent more time online, averaging more than 22 hours while narrowband users spent nearly 18 hours online. Table 1: Retail Sales and Conversion Rates Based on Connection Speeds, November 2004 Connection Average Online $ Shopper/Buyer Spend Per Person Conversion Rate ------------------------------------------------------------ Broadband $158.21 26% ------------------------------------------------------------ Narrowband $117.89 21% ------------------------------------------------------------ Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Online Retail Custom Data, January 2005 Table 2: Site Visits Based on Connection Speeds, November 2004 Connection Frequency of Frequency of Online Average Time Online Usage Retail Visits Spent Online (hrs:min:sec) ------------------------------------------------------------------- Broadband 59 18 22:08:24 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Narrowband 44 14 17:45:28 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Online Retail Custom Data, January 2005 Introducing MegaView Online Retail Service These findings were culled from the newly launched Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Online Retail service, the first online syndicated and custom data product that reports overall shopping traffic and customer purchase data. The research enables retailers and marketers to improve their online retail strategy for increased online sales through competitive benchmarking, dollar spending insights and buyers' conversion rates. The data measures product category sales by retailer and tracks top referring Websites. "MegaView Online Retail expands our family of services to provide retailers with unparalleled intelligence to increase online market share, gain a competitive perspective and maximize online profits," said Manish Bhatia, senior vice president, product marketing and business development, Nielsen//NetRatings. Retailers and marketers can access syndicated and custom reports, enabling them to: -- Track visitor and customer purchasing behavior -- Quantify total dollar spending and drill down by product category -- Assess the referral effectiveness index from top referring Websites -- Measure visits for comparable sites where purchases were made -- Analyze average retail spending and number of orders across retailers -- Trend retail purchase metrics -- Examine visitor behavior according to demographic profiles -- Build comparison shopping reports to identify online competitors, gauge loyalty and assess new opportunities MegaView Online Retail service is based on the Nielsen//NetRatings' MegaPanel(R), which provides retailers with the most comprehensive intelligence on online consumers by linking past surfing behavior from the panel's large sample with current opinions through real-time surveys. By combining these survey results with the actual surfing habits of the respondents, retailers and marketers are able to better understand how consumers are spending online. MegaView Online Retail is the third product introduced from MegaPanel(R), an online syndicated suite of services that provides comprehensive Internet market research for key vertical industries including financial services, search and online retail. Availability of MegaView Online Retail MegaView Online Retail is now available. Please contact a local Nielsen//NetRatings sales representative at http://netratings.com/contact.jsp for more information about the product. Research Revealed at Shop.org's FirstLook 2005 in NYC At FirstLook 2005 in New York, Ken Cassar, director of strategic analysis of Nielsen//NetRatings, will be presenting the latest research findings from the new MegaView Online Retail service at the "Preparing for the Broadband Explosion" panel on Wednesday, January 19 at 10:45 a.m. About Nielsen//NetRatings Nielsen//NetRatings, a service provided by NetRatings, Inc., is the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis and is the industry's premier source for online advertising intelligence with its NetView, AdRelevance, @Plan, WebRF, MegaPanel(R) and SiteCensus services. Covering 70 percent of the world's Internet usage, the Nielsen//NetRatings services offer syndicated Internet and digital media research reports and custom-tailored data to help companies gain valuable insight into their business. For more information, please visit www.nielsen-netratings.com. Safe Harbor Statement: This press release contains statements that may constitute forward thinking statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently expected. Information about potential factors that may affect NetRatings' business and financial results is included in its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, including, without limitation, under the captions "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Risk Factors That May Affect Our Performance." Each of these documents is on file with the SEC and is available free of charge. NetRatings does not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by it or on behalf of NetRatings. CONTACT: Tracy Yen, +1-408-941-2932 Marla Dierkes, +1-408-941-2931 NetRatings, Inc. Source: Nielsen//NetRatings CONTACT: Tracy Yen, +1-408-941-2932, or Marla Dierkes, +1-408-941-2931, both of NetRatings, Inc. Web site: http://netratings.com/contact.jsp Web site: http://www.netratings.com/ Web site: http://www.nielsen-netratings.com/ NOTE TO EDITORS: Please source all data to Nielsen//NetRatings. ------- Profile: International Entertainment