TMO Reports - Apple Holiday Site Traffic Doubles

by , 10:50 AM EST, November 29th, 2005

The holiday shopping season is off to a good start for online retailers, and Apple is no exception. According to statistics NetRatings provided to The Mac Observer, traffic to Apple's web site shot up 100 percent on November 25, compared to November 18.

Apple had 435,000 unique visitors to its site on Friday, November 18, and 869,000 unique visitors on Friday, November 25.

November 25 was "Black Friday," the day after Thanksgiving in the US where retailers traditionally begin to show a profit for the year. This year, more shoppers than ever turned to the Internet instead of visiting the mall.

NetRatings tracked a 29 percent overall increase in Internet-based shopping on November 25 this year, compared to the same date last year.

The increase in visitors to online stores follows this season's trend of electronics and gadgets as hot holiday gift items. The iPod product line is already proving to be a top seller, and is likely to drive even more traffic to Apple's Web site.

A new term has been coined to describe the first Monday after Thanksgiving: Cyber Monday. Traffic to online retailers and online sales were expected to spike again as the US workforce returned to their offices on Monday, and used company broadband Internet connections to make additional holiday purchases.

Statistics for Cyber Monday traffic at the online Apple Store are not yet available, but are likely to show a jump up from its Black Friday visitors.