Apple Cyber Monday web traffic jumps 71 percent
updated 12:15 pm EST, Wed December 2, 2009
Bucks overall trend
Traffic at Apple's online store rose 71 percent on Cyber Monday 2009 versus the same day in 2008, according to data collected by Experian Hitwise. Although Apple remains outside of the top 20 websites, the growth is nevertheless thought to be significant, as traffic amongst the top 500 sites declined 9 percent overall. The biggest gain within the top 20 was Staples, which jumped 61 percent.
Amazon continued to control the most Cyber Monday visits with a 15 percent marketshare, reflecting growth of 44 percent over 2008. Holding second place was Walmart at 9.54 percent of share, followed by Target at 5.16 percent, Best Buy at 3.56 and JC Penney at 2.58. Amazon has dominated Cyber Monday traffic since 2006, just a year after the term was first manufactured by online vendors.
Apple may have been hampered in 2009 by focusing on a limited pool of third-party software and accessories, only extending free shipping to its own products. By contrast, the company was one of only five online stores on Black Friday to crack 4 million visitors. The traffic amounted to a 39 percent growth over 2008.
