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Hitwise Announces Hitwise Intelligence Weblogs
A forum for real-time conversation about online marketing trends
We are pleased to announce the launch of Hitwise Intelligence - Weblogs which provide a forum for conversation about the latest online marketing trends. Using the robust Hitwise data platform, the Hitwise Global Research Group will share insights on a variety of topics including:
- Online shopping trends
- Innovative customer acquisition strategies
- Demand forecasting and brand equity analysis by search behavior
- Leading online businesses and secrets behind their success
- Demographic and behavioral targeting as avenues to finding the most profitable customers
One of the more recent postings by Bill Tancer, GM of global research at Hitwise, examines a potential connection between sky-rocketing gas prices and online shopping. The posting includes a chart showing market share of visits to the Hitwise Shopping & Classifieds - Department Stores category against searches for the term "gas prices". To see this chart and the blog posting click here.
Other
recent postings include Freakonomics, Sandals and Ugg Boots, and Real
Estate and Hurricane Katrina.
Searches for ‘ipod nano’ Overtake ‘ipod’
Visits to Apple.com Higher Than During Holiday 2004
With the release of the iPod Nano, Apple again sparked intense excitement among enthusiasts and reasserted its dominance in the digital-music-player market. In fact, Internet search behavior data indicate excitement around Apple's iPod Nano surpassing that of last year's iPod mini promotion, putting the sleek device on track to become the hottest gift item for 2005.
U.S. searches for 'ipod nano' surged 133 percent the week ending Sept. 24, 2005 versus the week of the product launch (week ending Sept. 10, 2005), and the market share of total Internet visits to the Apple website (www.apple.com) skyrocketed past peak levels during the 2004 holiday shopping season.
"The iPod has consistently been one of the most searched for items on the Internet in the past year," said Bill Tancer, general manager of global research at Hitwise. "The share of searches on the iPod nano has eclipsed any other iPod products in the past year, suggesting that the consumer love-affair with the iPod has been reinvigorated with this product introduction."
'iPod Nano': Apple Store's Customer Acquisition Weapon
For the four weeks ending Sept. 24, 2005, 52 percent of Internet searches for the term 'ipod nano' directly resulted in a visit to the Apple site (www.apple.com) or Apple Store (store.apple.com). The term benefited other retailers as well, directly driving traffic to: CircuitCity.com (3.3 percent of all visits), Amazon.com (1.76 percent) and JustDiscounted.com (1.5 percent). Among all U.S. Internet searches during the four weeks ending Sept. 24, the term 'ipod nano' ranked number 110.
Nano's First Fans Are Image-Conscious Urban Social Groups
Visitors to the Apple Store were 53 percent male, and 31 percent were in the 18-24 year-old age group for the four weeks ending September 17, 2005. Claritas PRIZM NE segmentation data show that Internet users residing in the urban social groups of "Urban Uptown" and "Midtown Mix," were 43 percent and 37 percent more likely to visit the Apple Store in that same period. Those groups are comprised of middle and upper class residents of densely populated urban areas.
Search Terms
Blog sites are rising in popularity as Internet users increasingly visit them for news stories and personal commentary. The Hitwise Search Term Analysis tool reveals the sites receiving the most traffic from the search term "blog" for the 4 weeks ending October 8, 2005. The results are ordered based on the percentage of visits.
Fast Mover - DIY Network
www.diynet.com
Position week ending September 24: 948
Position week ending October 8: 381
Positions jumped: 567
With the holiday season fast approaching, people are beginning to spruce up their homes in order for the festivities. Hitwise data indicate that people are going online to research ideas for home improvement to be prepared for the endless guests that will be sure to be on their doorsteps this holiday season.
DIY Network (www.diynet.com) is a website that not only provides information and step-by-step instructions on various home improvement projects, but also provides previews of DIY Network TV shows. According to Hitwise data, for the week ending Oct. 8, 2005, DIYnet.com has climbed 567 spots among all websites and jumped from number 6 to number 2 in the Hitwise Lifestyle - House & Garden category (week ending Oct. 8, 2005 vs. week ending Sept. 24, 2005).
The site experienced a 160% growth in market share of U.S Internet visits which can be attributed to a sweepstake campaign they are currently promoting online to win "The Ultimate Kitchen and Bathroom Giveaway". Hitwise Clickstream data reveal that for the week ending Oct. 8, 2005, Google contributed 21% of visits to DIY Network, Home & Garden Television (HGTV) was responsible for 7% and the HGTV Newsletter drove 5% of visits.
Hitwise Demographic data further reveal that the majority of Internet users to DIY Network are female (57 percent) aged 55+ years (29 percent).
Category Spotlight: Entertainment - Games
All sites devoted to the production, download, review, sale or playing of computer games, console games, board games and other types of games are listed in this category. The data below is based on All sites » Weekly rankings for the week ending 10/15/2005 » Ranks by 'Visits'.
Case Study: Affiliates and Partnerships
An Employment Firm
Learning from the successes of others is a great way to save time and money. When a employment firm was looking to identify the best partner for its business, it turned to Hitwise.
Over a 3 month period, trend analysis via the Hitwise 'Charting' tool revealed that a competitor enjoyed a 150% increase in market share of visits. In addition, by viewing the Hitwise 'Clickstream' report the client confirmed that the main driver of this growth was a new relationship with another website in the Employment category offering complimentary services.
This data, only available from Hitwise, showed the employment firm that this affiliate relationship was not only successful for acquiring new customers, but in taking market share away from other competitive sites.
Armed with this information, the marketing manager was able to:
- Gain insight into competitors' affiliate relationships and customer acquisition strategies.
- Measure the effectiveness of competitors' affiliate strategies.
- Identify, evaluate and select affiliates and partners for their own site in a more cost-effective and timely manner.
Media queries at Hitwise
If you are interested in using Hitwise content and statistics in publications and presentations, we encourage you to do so. Please source the content as "Hitwise United States - www.hitwise.com".
Additionally - if you require assistance with statistics or content, please feel free to contact press@hitwise.com.
About this Newsletter
This monthly email Newsletter is designed to provide Hitwise subscribers with analysis of new developments, industry trends and competitive activity. The powerful real-time web intelligence capabilities of Hitwise and a continual flow of additional research findings make this an indispensable business resource.
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Copyright Hitwise Pty Ltd, October 2005
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Hitwise United States Newsletter - October 2005
Real-time competitive intelligence