- An average of 51.3 million unique visitors went to online shopping sites weekly during the 2001 holiday shopping season from November 25 through December 23, according to a report Jupiter Media Metrix detailed this week.
The figure represents a significant 50% increase compared to the previous year when there were 34,264,000 unique visitors per week. In 1999, the number was 26,303,000.
The top holiday shopping sites in 2001 were eBay with an average of 4,515,000 unique daily visitors; Amazon.com with 2,519,000; and Mypoints.com, with 2,016,000.
The year 2001 also saw considerable gains by traditional retailers online. Traffic for the entire year to the seven traditional retailers among the top 15 shopping sites jumped 73% versus the previous year.
The top three traditional retailers for the holiday season were Columbia House websites, with 598,000 average daily unique visitors; Toysrus, with 515,000; and Barnesandnoble.com, with 447,000.