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Respondents Expect to Increase Holiday Spending More Online Than in Retail or Catalogs; One Third of All Holiday Shopping Spent Online; Search Engine Marketing a Large Driver for E-commerce

New York, NY, 12/21/2004 - DoubleClick Inc. (NASDAQ: DCLK), the leading provider of marketing solutions for ad agencies, marketers and web publishers, released the Consumer Holiday Shopping Survey today, which found that the Internet continues to gain ground as a holiday shopping channel compared to retail and catalogs. Part of the DoubleClick Holiday 2004 Shopping Report series, the new study revealed that 45% of online shoppers plan to spend more online this year than last year, compared to only 25% who planned to spend more in retail stores than last year, and 10% for catalogs.
On average, respondents said they planned to spend one third of their holiday gift budget online, 59% in bricks-and-mortar stores and 8% in catalogs. Asked how they found holiday gifts to buy online, respondents cited search engine results as the number-one choice out of 18 options.

Marketing Techniques Driving Online Holiday Shopping: Search Leading the Way

Explaining how they find a gift to buy online, 38% cited search engine results. The next most popular means of finding gifts online were seeing products on a web site (30%), word of mouth (26%) or seeing them in a catalog (22%) or a store (20%). Other factors respondents noted included ads on search engines (17%), email marketing (16%), television ads (15%), television programs (14%), web advertising (14%), comparison online shopping tools (12%) and magazine ads (11%).

'Time-Crunched' Shoppers Most Likely to Turn to the Internet for Holiday Shopping Needs

"Time Crunched Shoppers," those respondents who said they don't bother with last-minute sales, hate lines at the post office and put a premium on saving time while holiday shopping, are heavy online shoppers: 89% had shopped online already this season, and 60% of them plan to spend more online this season than they did last year. These "Time-Crunched Shoppers" also had the highest incomes and educations of any segment identified in the research.

"Last-Minute Shoppers," those who hate the holiday shopping hustle and bustle and wait to see what is on sale, were the next most likely to have already done some of their holiday shopping online among respondents (71%).

"Mall-eables," those who think shopping centers are fun and wait to find last-minute bargains, represented the lowest income group, the lightest online holiday shoppers (49% had done so already) and the heaviest retail shoppers (91% had already bought gifts in bricks-and-mortar outlets).

"Holiday Planners," those who start gift shopping early and don't mind post-office lines, are predominantly female; 38% had already done some of their shopping via catalogs.

"For affluent consumers, online shopping is an increasingly important part of their lifestyle," said Rick Bruner, manager of DoubleClick's research department. "Merchants are most likely to influence online shoppers with strategic search engine marketing programs, coordinated cross-channel promotions and well-placed web advertising, according to the findings of this survey."

Majority of Online Shoppers Increased or Maintained Spending Levels During the 2004 Holiday Season

Forty-two percent of shoppers planned to spend about the same amount in total this holiday compared to last year, while 29% were planning an increase and 29% planned to spend less. Of those planning to spend more, 34% attributed their generous spirits to more disposable income this year, while 27% said they were being paid more. Thirty-two percent reported that they had more people to shop for, thereby increasing total spend. Sixteen percent cited the strength of the economy.

Among those who planned to spend less this year for the holidays, 42% are looking to save money. Twenty-one percent said they were being paid less and the same percent blamed a poor economy, while 17% of those spending less for the holidays said they recently lost a job.

Methodology

The survey was directed by DoubleClick and conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings. Five hundred one respondents from Nielsen//NetRatings's 1.5 million member WebIntercept panel completed a pop-up survey during their visit to one of 16 popular e-commerce web sites between December 2 and 8.

About DoubleClick

DoubleClick is the leading provider of solutions for advertising agencies, marketers and web publishers to plan, execute and analyze their marketing programs. DoubleClicks marketing solutions online advertising, search engine marketing, affiliate marketing, email marketing, database marketing, data management and marketing resource management help clients yield the highest returns on their marketing dollar. In addition, the companys marketing analytics tools help clients measure performance within and across channels. DoubleClick Inc. has global headquarters in New York City and maintains 23 offices around the world.

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