eMarketer
Ranks
Online
Toy
Sites
Website:
http://www.emarketer.com
November
27,
2000
--
Where
should
grandparents
go
when
they
want
to
buy
toys
for
the
grandkids
online?
For
the
second
year
in
a
row
eToys.com
has
named
the
#1
full
service
online
toy
site,
according
to
eMarketer,
the
authority
on
business
online.
"eToys
is
quickly
solidifying
itself
as
the
gold
standard
of
the
online
toy
industry
through
its
efforts
in
all
areas,"
according
to
eMarketer
editor,
Rance
Piatt.
"Finding
a
specific
item
on
this
site
is
far
easier
than
strolling
the
aisles
of
any
of
the
large
brick
and
mortar
toy
stores
located
in
the
U.S.
And,
with
the
addition
of
an
East
Coast
distribution
center
tucked
in
the
foothills
of
the
Blue
Ridge
Mountians
of
Southern
Virginia,
this
holiday
season
should
run
even
smoother
than
last
year's
for
eToys.com."
A
newly
released
eHoliday
Shopping
Report
from
eMarketer
forecasts
a
robust
holiday
season
with
online
sales
reaching
$12.5
billion,
accounting
for
just
over
one-third
of
total
2000
web
sales
of
$37
billion.
This
quarter's
online
sales
are
a
71%
increase
over
Q4
1999,
and
at
$12.5
billion
will
be
the
highest
online
sales
of
any
single
quarter
ever.
Toys,
Games
and
Video
Games
will
represent
43%
of
all
online
holiday
purchases.
The
Evaluation
Process
eMarketer
considered
nearly
80
Toy
websites
and
used
several
sources
for
site
addresses.
Here
are
the
specific
criteria
we
used
to
evaluate:
1)
Design
-
Does
the
site
make
good
use
of
color
and
images?
Is
the
home
page
well
laid
out?
In
other
words,
can
the
user
experience
as
much
as
possible
from
the
home
page
or
is
the
home
page
just
another
page
for
the
user
to
get
through?
2)
Navigation
-
Can
the
user
find
different
parts
of
the
site
easily
and
in
different
ways
(i.e.
is
the
site
over-reliant
on
the
search
function
to
get
the
user
to
the
different
features)?
How
well
does
the
site
move
the
user
through
the
buying
process?
Do
the
pages
take
too
long
to
upload,
giving
the
user
ample
opportunity
to
abandon
the
shopping
cart?
3)Customer
Service
-
Do
they
provide
adequate/live
support?
Toll-free
number?
eMail?
Does
the
site
lay
out
the
specifics
for
delivery
(i.e.
deadlines
for
delivery
before
Dec.
22nd)?
Does
it
allow
the
consumer
to
track
an
order?
4)
Features
-
Does
the
site
make
good
use
of
available
technology
in
assisting
the
user?
Does
it
provide
a
wish
list
option?
Does
it
make
allowances
for
Spanish-speaking
users?
Rounding
out
the
Top
Ten
list
are
the
following
toy
sites:
2)
ToysRUs.com
www.toysrus.com
3)
ZanyBrainy.com
www.zanybrainy.com
4)
SmarterKids.com
www.smarterkids.com
5)
WorldsBestKids.com
www.worldsbesttoys.com
6)
FAO.com
www.fao.com
7)
Target.com
www.target.com
8)
KBKids.com
www.kbkids.com
9)
NuttyPutty.com
www.nuttyputty.com
10)
WalMart.com
www.walmart.com
"Perhaps
the
most
surprising
difference
between
Year
One
and
Year
Two
of
the
Toy
Wars,
is
the
fact
that
toy
sites
seem
no
closer
in
overtaking
eToys
as
the
web's
best
retailer
of
toys,"
according
to
Rance
Piatt.
"Put
simply,
eToys
is
the
benchmark
against
which
all
other
toy
sites
are
measured."
A
complete
description
of
the
top
ten
sites,
descriptions
and
links
to
the
honorees
home
pages
are
available
at
the
eMarketer
site
http://www.emarketer.com.
About
eMarketer
eMarketer,
www.emarketer.com,
who
claims
to
be
the
world's
leading
provider
of
internet
statistics,
is
recognized
as
an
authority
on
business
online.
Its
award-winning
website
has
been
visited
by
millions
of
marketers
from
over
140
countries,
and
its
newsletters
are
sent
to
over
350,000
e-mail
addresses
every
week.
The
company's
comprehensive
reports
aggregate,
filter,
organize
and
analyze
statistics,
news
and
information
from
the
world's
foremost
research
companies,
consultancies
and
business
news
services.
eMarketer's
articles,
market
projections
and
analytical
commentaries
are
featured
by
hundreds
of
news
organizations
and
business
publications
every
week.
Headquartered
in
New
York
City,
the
company
is
launching
eMarketer
Japan,
located
in
Tokyo
and
will
soon
be
expanding
to
Europe. |