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Online Holiday Shopping Peaks Two Weeks Prior to Santa’s Big Night

According to the Atlas Institute’s third-annual holiday shopping study, the season for online retailers is expected to crest the week of December 8-12

SEATTLE – Nov. 10, 2003 - The Atlas Institute, the research and education arm of Atlas DMT, an advertising technology provider and an operating unit of aQuantive, Inc. (NASDAQ: AQNT), today announced the results of its third-annual holiday shopping study. According to the study, the online holiday shopping season peaks approximately 10-to-14 days before Christmas compressing this crucial season for online retailers.

The study revealed the following results:
· Online shopping peaks approximately 10-to-14 days before Christmas, so this year’s season is predicted to peak the week of December 8-12.
· Mondays were the most popular shopping days online, which is indicative of weekend offline shopping and weekday comparison and bargain online shopping.
· The most active online shopping day last year was December 10 – 47 percent higher than the average holiday shopping day.
· Weekdays remain the most active for online shoppers during the holidays, peaking between noon and 3 p.m. EST.
· The "wait for shipping" lull remained at about 10 days. However, the Monday – only two days before Christmas – recorded a statistically significant increase in sales, as shoppers took advantage of last minute rush shipping.
· Post holiday shopping was notably weaker than in previous years. In January 2002 and 2001, activity equaled the pre-holiday rush. This year, January was about 25 percent less active than the first two weeks of the holiday season.

"There is no better time than the holiday season to take advantage of the unique strengths of online marketing," said Young-Bean Song, director of the Atlas Institute. "Timing, campaign volume and day-part targeting can make a huge difference in both Web site conversion rates and sales. The winners online this holiday season will be the ones who understand the trends and behaviors, and optimize campaigns appropriately."

The Atlas Institute’s goal with the annual study is to understand and inform marketers of the trends of the online holiday shopping season. Marketers can leverage these findings in a number of ways, including:
· Front-load impressions for December campaigns: Focus efforts on the first two weeks of the month – advertising dollars spent during the week of Dec. 8-12, are likely to be the most efficient.
· Tailor holiday online advertising messages to the at work audience: Because weekdays remain the most active for online shoppers, purchase day-part placements, when possible, to target online shoppers during the middle of the workday and find publisher sites with a high concentration of the at-work audience.
· Emphasize ease and speed of shipping in messaging: Creative should message that shoppers still have time beyond the middle of December to shop, purchase and receive in-time for Christmas.
· Offline drives online: Retailers operating both online and offline can expect weekend non-converted shoppers in-store may convert online after the weekend.

The Atlas Institute anonymously analyzed the holiday shopping behavior from November 24, 2002 through January 18, 2003, across 14 leading e-commerce companies whose online campaigns are managed using the Atlas Digital Marketing Suite. A high-resolution graphic indexing the 2002-2003 holiday sales volume by day is available upon request by contacting Steve Stratz at (206) 816-8692 or steve.stratz@aquantive.com. The study, which is designed to help retail companies improve the results of their digital marketing campaigns, included nearly a billion impressions and millions of sale transactions. To view the complete "2002 Online Holiday Shopping Patterns" study from the Atlas Institute, go to: www.atlasdmt.com/media/pdfs/insights/2002HolidayShopping.pdf.

About the Atlas Institute

The Atlas Institute is the research and education arm of Atlas DMT, an advertising technology provider and creator of the Atlas Digital Marketing Suite. The Institute publishes Digital Marketing Insights, a series of publications by Atlas DMT’s senior marketing analysts and digital marketing experts that help our customers improve their digital marketing effectiveness. Many of these findings are also made available to the digital marketing industry at large. Each Digital Marketing Insight report is designed to help marketers more successfully build value with their customers, throughout the customer lifecycle: from awareness to acquisition and from retention to growth. Atlas Institute also provides education in digital marketing to Atlas DMT customers and partners. To view a full listing of the Atlas Institute’s Digital Marketing Insights, please visit www.atlasdmt.com/insights.

About Atlas DMT

Atlas DMT (www.atlasdmt.com) is an advertising technology provider and creator of the Atlas™ Digital Marketing Suite, the industry’s first end-to-end, fully integrated ad serving and campaign management platform built by and for marketers. Named by ClickZ as the best ad serving technology, the Atlas Suite helps advertising agencies and other marketing professionals deliver efficient, profitable digital marketing programs. The Suite manages online media planning, buying, ad serving, analysis and optimization, with four integrated modules: Atlas Media Console, Atlas Creative Management System, Atlas Delivery and Tracking Services and Atlas Analysis and Optimization Engine. Atlas DMT’s patent-pending analytics architecture—Web Analysis Results Profiler (WARP)—provides marketers with the depth and granularity they need to answer their most important marketing questions. WARP is just one of a long list of Atlas DMT innovations, including online ROI processing, behavior-based media planning, and online GRP and reach forecasting. Atlas Suite clients include Carat Interactive, OMDi, Euro RSCG Worldwide, Tribal DDB, Foote, Cone & Belding, and ID Media. Atlas DMT serves its clients from offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York and London, delivering the industry’s most complete service and support. Atlas DMT is an operating unit of aQuantive, Inc (NASDAQ: AQNT). Atlas DMT is a member of the NAI and adheres to the NAI privacy principles that have been applauded by the FTC. These principles are designed to help ensure Internet user privacy. For more information about online data collection associated with ad serving, including online preference marketing and an opportunity to opt-out of the Atlas DMT cookie, go to: www.networkadvertising.org.

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