MSN Leads in Online Holiday Buying

Sales on the MSN (www.msn.com)  Shopping channel are on course to top last year's. Total spending and site traffic rose 30 percent over that of November 2003, fueled by great bargains, an expanded selection of gift guides, holiday specials and exclusive promotions, along with other features shoppers have come to expect: familiar, trustworthy brands; easy-to-use search and compare features; and a hosted free shipping page and returns center. This year's increase builds on last year's preholiday sales spike, when spending and site traffic increased by 50 percent in November.

"The continued increase in sales and traffic on MSN Shopping is proof that our site enables people to make smarter gift-giving decisions while avoiding jam-packed parking lots, long lines in stores and high gas prices," said Jim Barr, general manager of Commerce Services at MSN.

Testifying to the effectiveness of MSN Shopping in reaching a massive, engaged audience and advertisers' satisfaction in working with MSN Shopping, some 90 percent of merchants that advertised on the site in 2003 will do so again this year.

MSN attracts more than 360 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 40 markets and 20 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering Web services to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide.