According to statistics made public by Nielsen//NetRatings, Internet media and market researcher, Amazon.com has occupied just the eight place in a ranking following the evaluation of the traffic increase related to back to school online advertising campaigns in August 2006. However, Amazon is still market leader as far as the mass of its audience is involved. Attracting 40,992,000 unique visitors in August 2006, Amazon is separated from the runner-up Target with 21,421,000 visitors, by an audience gap of 19,571,000 users. With such volumes of audience involved, the two companies have experienced a growth of just 9% and 8% respectively.

“Online back to school shoppers are looking for a wide selection, good prices and a way to avoid crowds” said Heather Dougherty, senior retail and travel analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. “Parents are motivated by online coupons and other promotions, while kids are increasingly becoming educated online shoppers in their own right.”