Early Signs Point to the Site's Most Successful Holiday Season Ever
REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pre-holiday spending and
site traffic on the new and improved MSN(R) Shopping in November soared to
record levels, Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) reported today.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
Early signs that this year's holiday season could be the most successful
ever for MSN Shopping ( http://shopping.msn.com ) include the following:
-- On the Monday after Thanksgiving, known as "Cyber Monday" in the retail
industry and considered as the unofficial kickoff of the online holiday
shopping season, MSN Shopping had a 52 percent increase in page views
and 55 percent increase in page visits compared with Cyber Monday 2004.
-- Portable MP3 players, digital cameras and various clothing items are
among the most searched for items on MSN Shopping this holiday season,
participating merchants reported.
-- More than 7,000 merchants offer products through MSN Shopping, up from
210 merchants last year.
-- Selection on MSN is up to 28 million products from 5 million last year,
a 460 percent increase.
-- More than 91 percent of merchants that ran ads on MSN Shopping during
the 2004 holiday season will do so again this year.
MSN Shopping visitors have a much bigger selection to choose from this
year, with seven times the number of items and 35 times the number of
retailers. And with access to new, shopping-made-easy search and comparison
tools, as well as newly added product ratings and reviews, consumers and
retailers alike are realizing that the shopping experience on MSN is better
than ever.
"We've completely rebuilt MSN Shopping and, in our first holiday season as
a comparison-shopping site, we are thrilled with the results so far," said Jim
Barr, general manager for MSN Shopping at MSN. "We've received terrific
support and feedback from advertisers, merchants and consumers that is fueling
our commitment to making the MSN Shopping experience even better next year."
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 440 million unique users worldwide per month. With
localized versions available globally in 41 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a
world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising
opportunities to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online
service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make
the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at
http://www.msn.com . MSN worldwide sites are located at
http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft is the worldwide leader in software, services
and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
NOTE: Microsoft and MSN are either registered trademarks or trademarks of
Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the
trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Microsoft Corp.
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