Monthly Newsletter - HTML Format
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Internet World Stats News
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Number 015 -
February, 2006
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E-Commerce Sales
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Table of Contents
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Editorial
An incredible incident happened at IWS this
month. Two weeks ago, one of our visitors reported that the
"Statistics on Oceania do not open. Did we know that?" He was
right, we did not know that. We immediately browsed over to the
Oceania Stats page and saw that it displayed fine using
Firefox (the browser we regularly use). We informed this
fact to our helpful reader, and informed that it was strange
because we saw the page was displaying okay. We did not worry
about the issue anymore.
A few days ago, while surfing the IWS web site using
Internet Explorer (IE6), with horror, instead of the Oceania Stats
page, we saw a blank white page without content. Then we
re-checked again the page with Firefox, and we saw the complete
Oceania page with all the statistics.
How could that be, we asked ourselves. We were very concerned
and investigated. The problem was due to an error in the HTML
code of the page. The code was validated, repaired, and the
problem disappeared.
Many thanks to our helpful visitor that reported the
malfunction, and our sincere apologies to all the IWS website
visitors that might have suffered a blank page when searching for
the South Pacific Stats
Page.
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United States e-Commerce
Sales Up 24.6% in 2005
According to new figures released by the
United States Department of Commerce e-Commerce Sales accounted
for 2.4 percent of all sales in the fourth quarter of 2005, up
from 2.3 percent the previous quarter, Total fourth quarter
e-commerce revenues came to a seasonally adjusted $22.94 billion.
For all year 2005, e-commerce sales rose by 24.6 percent
according to information from the U.S. Census Stats.
Total e-Commerce sales, excluding Travel, exceeded $83 Billion
in 2005, according to data published by ComScore. Apparel
& Accessories ranked as the fastest growing category in 2005,
with a 41-percent increase versus the previous year (2004). Other
rapidly growing categories included Computer Software (up 37
percent), Toys & Hobbies (up 35 percent), Home & Garden
(up 33 percent) and Jewelry & Watches (up 31 percent).
Customer Satisfaction with e-Commerce Web Sites on
the Rise
U.S. customer satisfaction with e-commerce web sites has
improved slightly from last year, according to the American Customer Satisfaction
Index (ACSI).
E-commerce’s ACSI score experienced a 1.3 percent boost
from Q4 2004’s 78.6, to Q4 2005’s 79.6. ForeSee
Results uses the University of Michigan’s ACSI methodology,
which includes site users’ likelihood of using a site again
or recommending it to other users, to determine rankings based on
a 100-point scale. The report segments e-commerce into four
subcategories: e-retail, online auction, e-brokerage, and online
travel companies.
The industry score for travel web sites improved one percent to
79, with Expedia coming in at 79, Travelocity 75 and Orbitz 74. A
year ago, the big three were within a point of each other. But
Expedia differentiated itself last year with new products such as
cruises and packages from popular resorts, as per the information
available.
In e-Retailing, Amazon is tied with BarnesandNoble, both at 87
points. Amazon.com made up most of the ground it lost last year
and has the highest score of any retailer or service provider in
e-commerce. See ACSI stats.
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China e-Commerce on the
Rise
In China e-Commerce is on the rise. A
survey conducted by the China Internet Development Research
Center under the Chinese academy of Social Sciences says Chinese
consumers made more online shopping in 2005 than the average
consumer in the Asian-Pacific region. Some 71.3 percent of
Chinese netizens have tried online shopping. The average in the
Asian-Pacific region is 70 percent. Online transaction in China
soared 158 percent to 553.1 billion yuan last year from 350
billion yuan in 2004. The turnover last year reached 13.5 billion
yuan, nearly tripling that of 2004. Further information
here.
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Ask Jeeves Search
Engine Lost Jeeves
Ask.com has undergone a
redesign and rebranding effort (no more Jeeves, the Butler
Brand). The big debut will be a TV brand campaign on March 8 with
significant online support starting March 12. The campaign's
theme is: "Use Tools. Feel Human."
The search engine has a new stripped-down interface, featuring a
"tool box" at the right-hand side of the page. You can launch a
variety of searches directly from the page, including dictionary,
image, encyclopedia, local, and maps. Ask.com users can rearrange
and edit the search tools. Ask is also offering Web-based desktop
search and a maps product that will offer the ability to access
detailed itineraries. You can save search items in "my
stuff".
The former Ask Jeeves had a market share in search between 2 to
3 percent, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. The category leader
Google recorded more than 46 percent. Ask expects to occupy the
fourth position in search, after the three leaders (Google, Yahoo
and MSN) by offering new tools and displacing AOL from the fourth
spot. Now that AOL will suffer because it has plans to charge for
e-mail, keep your eyes on renewed Ask. Visit
Ask.
Very truly yours,
Enrique de Argaez,
editor and webmaster
P.S.: New pages at IWS: World Time, UE25 Stats and Latam Stats.
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