Online sights by Burst Media. Tis the Season for Online Spending October 2009

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1 Tis the Season for Online Spending October 2009 Copyright 2009

2 From Travel to Shopping, Consumer Spending Will Be Flat for the Holidays But More Online While the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, has declared that the worst recession since the 1930s is likely over, consumer confidence is still shaky at best. With the 2009 holiday shopping season right around the corner, Burst surveyed over 2,350 adults to gain insight into their holiday spending plans for After a very dismal holiday shopping season in 2008, Burst found that consumers will still be holding onto their wallets this year. There is good news though for online retailers: more and more consumers plan to purchase gifts online this year. Key Findings: One third (32.7%) of respondents intend to spend less in 2009 than in 2008 on holiday gifts and entertaining. There does not seem to be a clear start to the holiday shopping season as only one out of ten (13.6%) respondents consider Black Friday to be the official kick-off. Despite concerns over credit card security, eight out of ten (78.6%) online shoppers are planning to purchase at least the same if not more holiday gifts online this year than they did in Insight #1: Spending Trends Slightly Downward One third (32.7%) of respondents expect to spend less on gifts and entertaining this holiday season compared to 2008, and almost the same number (30.1%) expect to spend about the same as they did last year. Only 14.6% of respondents expect to spend more than last year and 22.7% are unsure of their 2009 holiday spending. (Chart 1) 2009 Holiday Spending vs Responses I will spend about the same I will spend much less I will spend somewhat less 12.4% 20.6% 17.5% 14.9% 30.4% 29.8% I will spend somewhat more 5.8% 8.5% I will spend much more 5.3% % of Respondents 9.5% Women Men Chart 1: Respondents holiday spending trends 2009 vs 2008 Source: Burst Media, September 2009, n=2,188 Margin of Error: +/- 2.1% Online In Tis the Season for Online Spending October 2009

3 Women will be more frugal than men this holiday season with 38.1% reporting they will spend less, compared to 27.3% of all men. Among key demographic segments, two out of five (43.8%) Baby Boomer women (45-64 years) indicate they will spend less this year on holiday gifts and entertainment compared to Trimming holiday spending is seen among all income segments: 29.5% of respondents reporting household income (HHI) of less than $35,000 will cut holiday spending, as will almost half (46.3%) of households reporting HHI of $35,000-$75,000, and nearly one-third (31.3%) of households reporting HHI of $75,000 or more. Insight #2: Holiday Revelers Plan to Stay Close to Home Only one-third (37.6%) of respondents have definitive plans to travel more than 300 miles from home this holiday season. Among holiday travelers the automobile (18.0%) will be the most popular mode of transportation, followed by airplane (11.8%), train (4.4%) and bus (3.4%). Older respondents (55 years and older) are the segment most likely (52.1%) to say they will stay home this holiday. Interestingly, women are significantly more likely than men to say they plan to stay home during the holiday season, 47.1% versus 37.7% respectively. Insight #3: No Clear Start to the Holiday Shopping Season With all the retailer hype around Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), only one out of ten (13.6%) respondents consider the day to be the official start of the holiday shopping season. Contrary to popular myth, men are not the only last minute shoppers our study found that 21% of men and 15% of women wait until the last minute to shop for the holidays. Insight #4: Holiday Shoppers Will Be Online With 62.8% of holiday shoppers planning to cutback or spend the same as 2008 marketers will need to be more aggressive than ever to compete for those coveted holiday dollars. Savvy marketers will be looking to reach these consumers where they shop which more and more is online. The Internet has become a go-to holiday shopping resource. Our study found that only 14.7% of respondents will not shop online this holiday season. Additionally, our study discovered that of those who made online purchases in 2008, 78.6% will purchase at least the same if not more gifts online for the 2009 holiday season. 3 Online In Tis the Season for Cutting Back October 2009

4 Online Shoppers Will Also Window Shop The most popular online window shopping activities are comparing different retailers to find the best price (56.8%), and comparing the features of different brands (55.3%). Women are slightly more likely than men to use the Internet for price comparison (59% vs. 54.6%) while men are slightly more likely than women to use the Internet to research and compare features of different brands (58.1% vs. 52.5%). Online Shoppers Still Make Purchases Despite Concerns Six out of ten (63.7%) online shoppers are concerned about credit card security when making a purchase online with more women (69.4%) fearing it than men (58%). Other areas of concern include shipping costs (54.5%), privacy of personal information (54.1%), product quality (46.3%), shipping issues/delays (37.1%), return policy (33.6%), and product availability (31.6%). (Chart 2) 4 Online Shopping Concerns Security of credit card information 58% 69.4% Shopping costs 58.7% 50.3% Privacy of personal information Product quality 49.6% 47.9% 44.7% 58.7% Shipping issues/delays 35.4% 38.9% A site s return policy 35.9% 31.2% Product availability 29.7% 33.6% Women Men Chart 2: Concerns of Online Shoppers Source: Burst Media, September 2009, n=1,620 Margin of Error: +/- 2.4% What Shoppers Are Buying Online The Internet and brick-and-mortar stores are the two primary resources consumers use to research products they might purchase. Which source they turn to depends greatly on the item of interest. Online In Tis the Season for Cutting Back October 2009

5 5 The Internet is cited as the best place to learn about computer equipment (66.8%), personal electronics i.e. digital cameras/mobile phones (65.2%), digital music players i.e MP3 Players/iPods (65.1%), and home electronics (54.1%); Retail stores are still the best places to go for home furniture (60%), jewelry (53.1%), men s, women s, teen, and kids apparel (53%), and cosmetics (46.8%). How You Can Use This Information Given that consumers will clearly be shopping online in full force this holiday season and that there is no definitive starting point for when shoppers will begin making their lists and checking them twice marketers should look to the Internet almost immediately to spread their holiday message. Given how easy it is to change creative messaging online, advertisers can start building awareness in October and early November, and quickly change to a more seasonal action as the holidays approach. And while retailers may still plan special savings and promotions for Black Friday, our study shows that there is no hard start to the holiday shopping season. Uncluttered Quality Sites in Burst s Networks All sites added to Burst s networks are subject to a rigorous screening process. Burst also audits network sites several times a year to ensure they continue to meet our standards. Our continuous review guarantees your advertising message is placed in a high quality content environment, and receives the maximum exposure it deserves. Here are three sites from Burst Network where key age demographics are spending considerable time in quality branding environments: Redplum.com is a single destination for finding special offers, great deals, valuable product information, and coupons for products and services. Visitors can quickly search through a wide variety of categories to find valued offers, expert advice, fun tips, great gift ideas, fashion tips, and more. Offers can be printed out, saved for later, or easily shared with friends and family. Holidays on the Net features a collection of multimedia holiday celebrations. For each celebration, you ll find a wealth of information about the holiday including history and related activities. In addition, the site offers holiday crafts and recipes, as well as great holiday travel deals. Cooks.com is your one-stop source for all of your holiday cooking needs. You ll find hundreds of recipes for each dish you want to prepare for your holiday table or your every day dinner table. Plus, you can upload your own favorite recipes so that others can enjoy the fruits of your labor. Online In Tis the Season for Cutting Back October 2009

6 About Burst Media An online media and technology company founded in 1995, Burst Media ( com) is a leading provider of advertising representation, services and technology to independent Web Publishers. Burst Media enables advertisers to reach finely segmented, engaged consumers as they visit Burst s extensive number of interest-based sub-channels. Through its Burst Network and Burst Direct units, the company represents one of the broadest and deepest offerings of interest-based web sites online. Burst also markets its ad management platform, adconductor TM, which empowers content web sites, online ad networks, and web portals to manage the complete process of ad sales and service. Burst Media is headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, with offices throughout the United States and in London, UK. For more information, visit or call About Online In Trends in Internet use and consumers online purchasing behaviors are constantly evolving and often difficult to detect. That s why Burst Media publishes Online In our monthly newsletter that highlights emerging trends in online media and ecommerce. Findings reported in Online In are based on an online survey fielded across its Network of more than 4,700 web sites. Data from the survey is weighted based on age and gender to ensure findings are representative of the US internet audience. Online In Tis the Season for Cutting Back October 2009