The 2006 holiday shopping season is officially underway, and that makes ComScore Networks recent press release even more interesting. Using their World Matrix online traffic tracking and analysis, they determined that certain top U.S. web sites are receiving a higher percentage of international visitors than U.S. visitors. This affects major sites including eBay, Amazon, Google, Yahoo and Ask.com.

In the top ten most visited sites, there were three search engines, and two retail sites. All of the top ten search engines and retail sites have over 50 percent of both page views and unique visitors coming from countries other than the U.S.

Earlier this month, Trevor Ginn explained how to use search engines to promote your eBay store (http://auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m11/abu0178/s03). Using this information and the knowledge that Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, MSN, and Lycos all get high international traffic, sellers can actively promote their eBay and Amazon listings to the international market.

One of the reasons for the high levels international traffic, is the strength of international currencies against the dollar. It often far cheaper to purchase something in the U.S. and have it shipped to your home country than to purchase it locally. For example, a pair of brand new Calvin Klein jeans in England retail around ₤70. Even the discount stores charge around ₤40. The average selling price for a pair of new with tags Calvin Klein jeans on eBay.com is $14.09 (source: Hammertap3). Even with another $10 for shipping, that still works out to only ₤12.63.

As the holiday season continues, more and more international buyers may be looking to U.S. sites to find bargains for holiday gifts. This means that sellers who consider international buyers, offer them timely, cost-effective shipping, and actively promote their store on search engines that receive high international hits, may benefit significantly during this holiday season.

Site/Network	U.S Unique Visitors	Worldwide Unique Visitors	% of Unique Visitors from outside the U.S.	% of Page Views from outside the U.S.
Yahoo Sites	115,726	480,641	75.9%	67.2%
Time Warner Network	106,883	217,743	50.9%	24.8%
Microsoft Sites	106,270	505,479	79.0%	75.4%
Google Sites	94,582	467,498	79.8%	89.1%
eBay	70,191	237,327	70.4%	69.9%
Fox Interactive Media	64,233	117,789	45.5%	12.8%
Ask Network	48,043	112,768	57.4%	39.6%
Amazon	44,924	113,518	66.4%	59.8%
New York Times Digital	36,453	65,542	44.4%	27.0%
Verizon Communications Corp.	32,059	37,950	15.5%	4.8%

Condensed version adapted from ComScore Networks 11-09-06 press release: http://www.comscore.com/press/release.asp?press=1057. All counted visitors are over 15 years old.

Editor's Note: Article edited on 11/11/06 to clarify that the comScore Networks study looked at U.S. Web properties. Click through to the ComScore press release for further information.

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Lissa McGrath is a full-time freelance writer and the author of 20 Questions To Ask Before Selling On eBay (Career Press, 2006). She is also the copy editor of 6 other eBay related books.
http://www.lissamcgrath.com.