comScore Study: Mums Control the Online Purse Strings in the U.K.

LONDON -

- comScore Study Reveals that Women Age 25-54 with Children in the Household have High Likelihood of Visiting Several Retail Categories

comScore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released the results of a study into the online behavior of U.K. “mums,” defined as females between the ages of 25-54 with children present in the household. The study showed that 4.6 million U.K. mums went online in June, spending an average of 26.7 hours and making an average of 52.6 visits per visitor during the month.

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U.K. Mums More Likely to Visit Retail Sites

The intensity of Internet usage amongst mums was consistent with the average Internet user, who spent an average of 27.3 hours online and made an average of 53.1 visits per visitor in June. However, an analysis of the top site categories visited by this demographic revealed a strong predilection for retailer sites. In fact, six of the ten highest indexing categories among this group were retail categories, led by the toys category, which they were 32 percent more likely than average to visit. Retail - Fragrances/Cosmetics ranked second (30 percent higher than average), followed by the Kids Entertainment (28 percent), Shipping (26 percent) and Retail - Food (19 percent) categories.

Increased Likelihood of Site Category Visitation* June 2009 Total U.K., Females Age 25-54 with children present, Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix —————————– % More Likely to Visit than Average Site Category Internet User ————- —————– Retail - Toys 32% ————- — Retail - Fragrances/Cosmetics 30% —————————– — Entertainment - Kids 28% ——————– — Shipping 26% ——– — Retail - Food 19% ————- — Retail - Mall 18% ————- — Directories 17% ———– — Retail - Apparel 16% —————- — Retail - Tickets 14% —————- — Family & Parenting 13% —————— — * Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

“Mums in the U.K. not only spend a great deal of time online each month, but they also control the purse strings for many families,” said Mike Read, SVP and managing director, comScore Europe. “It’s clear from their heavy visitation of retail sites that mums represent an important shopping segment, so it is critical for marketers and retailers to understand how to reach this audience online and influence their spending behavior - both online and offline.”

Amazon Sites Most Popular U.K. Online Retail Destination for Mums

Of the 4.6 million U.K. mums who went online in June, 3.6 million visited an online retail site, representing a reach of 77 percent. The most popular retail destination for mums was Amazon Sites with 1.5 million visitors, followed by the Home Retail Group Property - owner of Argos and Homebase - with 970,000 visitors, Tesco Stores with 700,000 visitors, and Shop Direct Group, which includes Littlewoods, with 610,000 visitors.

Top 10 Retail Sites Visited by U.K. Mums* June 2009 Total U.K., Females Age 25-54 with children present, Home & Work Locations Source: comScore World Metrix —————————– Total Unique Visitors Property (000) % Reach ——– ———— ——- Total Mums Online 4,597 100% —————– —– — Retail 3,559 77% —— —– — Amazon Sites 1,525 33% ———— —– — Home Retail Group 970 21% —————– — — Tesco Stores 700 15% ———— — — Shop Direct Group 610 13% —————– — — Apple.com Worldwide Sites 587 13% ——————- — — Wal-Mart 418 9% ——– — - Shopping.com Sites 406 9% —————— — - Ticketmaster 383 8% ———— — - Play.com Sites 376 8% ————– — - NEXT Group 362 8% ———- — - * Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

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Source: comScore, Inc.

Jamie Gavin of comScore, Inc., +44-(0)207-099-1775, worldpress at comscore.com. Logo: https://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080115/COMSCORELOGO