comScore’s data reveal that online sales reached $12.42 bln in November 2006, an increase of 25% versus November 2005. This gain is being driven by a 17% increase in the number of online buyers, coupled with a 7% increase in the average dollars spent per buyer.

comScore published its findings on top e-commerce sites in the UK.

comScore published its findings on top e-commerce sites in France.

An analysis of overall traffic to Web sites devoted to prescription medications revealed the conditions with high levels of visitation. Depression was the top-ranked therapeutic area with 2.9 million unique visitors. Bipolar disorder and insomnia ranked second and third with 1.8 million and 1.7 million unique visitors, respectively.

According to MPD Group, males and those under age 35 are the most passionate about the overall features of the next generation systems but Heavy Gamers, those who spend the most time and money on video games, are more likely than all other segments to emphasize the importance of these systems having appealing game titles, backward compatibility, wireless controllers, Wi-Fi capability, and the ability to play online. Infrequent and Secondary gamers, as well as Prefer Portable gamers, have expressed an interest in purchasing a next-gen system - all above 40% for the PS3 and Wii. Heavy Gamers show a stronger interest in purchasing a Wii than a PS3, 79% and 70%, respectively, among those aware of each system. However, among those interested in purchasing only one of the Next Gen systems, the majority (62%) are interested only in purchasing a PS3.

66% of searchers for medical information reported looking for information on drug side effects, and 53% looked for drug safety information. Condition-focused information was sought by 53% of visitors, while patient information and support programs were sought by nearly one-third of all visitors (29%).

HDTV sales have increased 52% in unit volume and 39% in dollar volume from January through September of 2006 compared to the same time period in 2005. Sales of HDTVs during the 2005 holiday season (November and December) topped $2.2 bln with over 1.4 mln units sold and are expected to continue to grow 2006. The average price of an HDTV set is down more than 8% year-to-date (January through September) compared to the same time 2005. Prices for LCD and plasma TVs dropped significantly from the 2004 holiday season to the 2005 holiday season with 35% and 41% declines, respectively.

The top five most commonly downloaded games (based on unit share) in August 2006 were the following:

1. Tetris
2. Bejeweled
3. Tetris Deluxe
4. Pac-Man
5. Diner Dash

Teens (age 13-17) are more likely than other age groups to download a game because of a free trial or demo. Young adults (age 18 to 24) cite the game title as the most important criteria, while older adults (age 25 to 34) stated that a positive review affected their decision. Adults 35 and older cited price as their top rationale for downloading specific titles. The top reasons given by consumers of all ages for downloading specific games was an appreciation for the overall genre (57%), followed by price (28%) and special offers like free trials (26%), NPD reports.

There was a 39% increase in subscription rentals of TV content and a 255% increase in TV-title digital video downloads between August 2005 and August 2006. NPD also reports that people who purchased TV titles on DVD were twice as likely as the average consumer to also download digital video content. In fact, 92% of consumers who downloaded a video in 2005, expected to download the same amount or even more in 2006. For the year to date ending in August 2006, iTunes was the most popular paid video download site with 67% of video downloads. MovieFlix followed with 19% and CinemaNow was third with 9%.

Mobile gaming in Asia/Pacific has been successfully established, with revenues reaching $1.56 bln in 2005, reports In-Stat. Mobile gaming in Asia/Pacific will reach $4.4 bln in 2010. 3G users spend 70% more per month on mobile gaming than 2G users. Interest levels in mobile gaming are low, with more than half of both 2G and 3G users indicating they would be unlikely to play mobile games within the next six months.

China’s population of Internet users has risen by 30% over 2006 to 132 mln. The figure was up from 123 mln at the end of June 2006, Xinhua News Agency said. The number of Chinese customers with broadband access has grown to 52 mln.

Large-sized TFT-LCD panel shipments will rise to 154.3 million units in the first half of 2007, up 23.7 percent from 124.7 million in the first half of 2006?and even up 6.3 percent from 145.2 million units in the second half of 2006, iSuppli says.

About 45 mln pagers were in use nationwide in 1999. Nowadays the total is 7.4 mln, down from 8.2 mln in 2005, according to The Paging Information Resource.

Foresee Results published its annual survey of online retailer customer satisfaction. Top rated websites include perennial favorites Netflix (86), Amazon.com (84), LLBean.com (80) and QVC.com (80), followed closely by Apple.com and Old Navy.com (both 79). Bottom scorers include CompUSA.com (69), Costco.com (69) and CDW.com (68). Department stores racked up huge improvements: Websites for JC Penney, Sears and Target all racked up huge improvements from last year’s holiday satisfaction scores.

In spite of DVD player penetration in Europe breaking the halfway mark at 53% in 2005, total consumer spending on video declined from 12.8 bln euros in 2004 to 11.9 bln euros in 2005. By the end of 2006, Screen Digest anticipates that retail DVD unit sales will have plateaued and continued price erosion is expected to depress consumer spending on DVD retail by 5% YTY. Meanwhile, Screen Digest forecasts consumer spending on DVD rental to decline by 7% in 2006, representing less than 20% of European consumer spending on video software.

The number of small businesses in America in 2005 reached a new high of 25.85 mln, according to the SBA. More small businesses were started in 2005 than were closed, resulting in an estimated 5.99 mln firms with employees and 19.86 mln sole proprietorships.

American Research Group found that US shoppers are less focused on bargains than in the past. This year, 33% say they will only buy gifts on sale, down from 75% in 2005.

Total IP phone annual shipments will grow from 10 mln units in 2006 to 164 mln units in 2010. Only 40% of IP PBX seats are currently configured with IP phones. Cisco leads the business IP phone market with a 43% market share. The next closest competitor is Avaya, at 12%, In-Stat says.