There’s no shortage of ways for consumers to spend their time online, but retail shopping was among the more popular options in July 2013. Preparing for back-to-school and shopping for their everyday needs, nearly 110 million Americans visited retailers’ websites in July. In fact, fifty-three percent of the people active on the Web in July visited mass merchandiser websites, surfing for deals and placing online product orders. And consumers weren’t dashing to the virtual checkout lines—they spent 52 minutes per person on average across nine shopping sessions each during the month.
Among online retailers, Amazon was the top brand in the mass merchandiser category, attracting more than 78 million unique U.S. visitors who averaged more than 30 minutes searching and shopping. Brick-and-mortar retailers like Walmart, Target and Barnes and Noble also ranked among the top shopping sites during the month, attracting 36 million visitors, 21 million visitors, and 8 million visitors, respectively. Etsy, a growing online marketplace, was also a popular Web destination, giving crafty business owners looking to sell their wares online an audience of more than 11 million people in July. Etsy’s visitors spent nearly 20 minutes on the site, on average, making the online marketplace the second-most engaging behind Amazon.
Top Mass Merchandizer Sites by Unique Audience in July 2013 (U.S. Total)
| Rank | Brand or Website | Unique Audience | Time Spent PP (HH:MM:SS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| – | Mass Merchandiser | 109,890,000 | 0:52:30 |
| 1 | Amazon | 78,519,000 | 0:33:52 |
| 2 | Walmart | 36,854,000 | 0:14:38 |
| 3 | Target | 21,230,000 | 0:10:19 |
| 4 | Etsy | 11,760,000 | 0:19:59 |
| 5 | Liberty Interactive Group | 9,960,000 | 0:08:11 |
| 6 | Staples | 8,974,000 | 0:11:15 |
| 7 | Overstock.com | 8,084,000 | 0:07:29 |
| 8 | Barnes & Noble | 8,027,000 | 0:08:53 |
| 9 | ShopAtHome.com | 7,951,000 | 0:06:02 |
| 10 | Costco | 7,258,000 | 0:07:18 |
| Source: Nielsen |
Looking at overall Web activity, Google was the top brand in terms of unique audience, attracting 162 million Americans–more than three in four Web users visited Google during July 2013. Facebook (132 million visitors) and Yahoo! (126 million visitors) rounded out the top three Web brands. Overall, 208 million Americans were active online during July 2013, using the Web for nearly 27 hours per person during the month.
Top Web Brands by Unique Audience in July 2013 (U.S. Total)
| Rank | Brand or Website | Unique Audience | Time Spent PP (HH:MM:SS) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 162,096,000 | 1:49:50 | |
| 2 | 131,840,000 | 6:24:24 | |
| 3 | Yahoo! | 126,436,000 | 2:05:13 |
| 4 | MSN/WindowsLive/Bing | 119,892,000 | 1:18:55 |
| 5 | YouTube | 114,770,000 | 1:49:49 |
| 6 | Microsoft | 80,694,000 | 0:44:03 |
| 7 | AOL Media Network | 79,389,000 | 2:05:10 |
| 8 | Amazon | 78,519,000 | 0:33:52 |
| 9 | Wikipedia | 68,355,000 | 0:22:29 |
| 10 | Ask Search Network | 63,571,000 | 0:10:38 |
| Source: Nielsen |
