REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 29, 2005 — Pre-holiday spending and site traffic on the new and improved MSN® Shopping in November soared to record levels, Microsoft Corp. reported today.
Early signs that this year’s holiday season could be the most successful ever for MSN Shopping include the following:
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On the Monday after Thanksgiving, known as “Cyber Monday” in the retail industry and considered as the unofficial kickoff of the online holiday shopping season, MSN Shopping had a 52 percent increase in page views and 55 percent increase in page visits compared with Cyber Monday 2004.
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Portable MP3 players, digital cameras and various clothing items are among the most searched for items on MSN Shopping this holiday season, participating merchants reported.
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More than 7,000 merchants offer products through MSN Shopping, up from 210 merchants last year.
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Selection on MSN is up to 28 million products from 5 million last year, a 460 percent increase.
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More than 91 percent of merchants that ran ads on MSN Shopping during the 2004 holiday season will do so again this year.
MSN Shopping visitors have a much bigger selection to choose from this year, with seven times the number of items and 35 times the number of retailers. And with access to new, shopping-made-easy search and comparison tools, as well as newly added product ratings and reviews, consumers and retailers alike are realizing that the shopping experience on MSN is better than ever.
“We’ve completely rebuilt MSN Shopping and, in our first holiday season as a comparison-shopping site, we are thrilled with the results so far,” said Jim Barr, general manager for MSN Shopping at MSN. “We’ve received terrific support and feedback from advertisers, merchants and consumers that is fueling our commitment to making the MSN Shopping experience even better next year.”
About MSN
MSN attracts more than 440 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 41 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide. The most useful and innovative online service today, MSN brings consumers everything they need from the Web to make the most of their time online. MSN is located on the Web at http://www.msn.com. MSN worldwide sites are located at http://www.msn.com/worldwide.ashx.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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