With a number of major apparel retailers reporting earnings this week and back-to-school shopping in full swing, comScore takes a look at the Apparel category.

In July, more than 34 million Americans visited a site in the Apparel category. Unlike other Retail categories such as Books and Computer Hardware, in which a small number of sites draw the majority of category traffic, visitation to the Apparel category is distributed among a relatively large number of properties. In fact, 28 properties were visited by more than 500,000 Internet users in July. Otto Gruppe, which includes Spiegel.com and EddieBauer.com, was the leading Apparel property in July, with 4.3 million unique visitors.

	Retail-Apparel Category Unique Visitors (000) July 2003 U.S. Home, Work and University Users (Excludes Mass Merchandise retailers that may also sell apparel) Source: comScore Media Metrix   All Locations (000) Home (000) Work (000) University (000) Total Internet Users 147,455 127,803 48,993 10,319 Apparel Category 34,176 23,276 10,782 2,318 Otto Gruppe 4,260 2,794 1,535 169 Limited Brands 3,684 2,355 1,185 341 OLDNAVY.COM 3,666 2,210 1,267 207 Alloy 2,602 1,787 798 151 Gap Online 2,419 1,602 718 221 Foot Locker Sites 2,327 1,613 582 243 Nike 1,998 1,270 676 156 LLBEAN.COM 1,626 1,058 574 79 AE.COM 1,604 1,047 451 185 FREDERICKS.COM 1,595 1,080 442 111 NORDSTROM.COM 1,542 1,032 465 121 CHADWICKS.COM 1,430 885 569 53 ABERCROMBIEANDFITCH.COM 1,399 931 348 185 ZAPPOS.COM 1,332 846 463 92 Lands End 1,242 980 265 52

Online Shoppers Spent More Than $500 Million on Apparel in July

Online spending on apparel and accessories was up 43% in June and 44% in July versus year-ago levels. This growth rate outpaced not only total non-travel spending, but also the year-over-year growth rate for the Apparel category in the previous six months (36 percent).

Although the Apparel category has experienced a strong summer of online shopping to date, last week’s blackout in the Northeast and Midwest occurred near the peak of the back-to-school shopping season. Apparel retailers may be forced to cut prices and offer promotions in order to compensate for the shortfalls that inevitably occurred as a result of this event.

	Online Consumer Spending Apparel Category Excludes Auctions and Large Corporate Purchases June & July 2003 Source: comScore Networks ($ in millions)   June 2003 % Change vs. Year-Ago July 2003 % Change vs. Year-Ago Total Non-Travel $3,590 17% $4,087 32% Apparel Category $596 43% $509 44%

Kids’ Brands Among the Biggest Gainers in July

While the total number of Internet users grew just one percent from June to July, back-to-school shoppers drove visitation to the Apparel category up by more than 12%. This growth was driven in large part by strong increases at a number of teen-oriented Apparel sites. Of the top 25 sites in the Apparel category, Alloy showed the greatest increase in visitation from June to July (66 percent). Other teen apparel and accessory retailers experiencing strong increases in July included Delia.com (34 percent), Zappos.com (34 percent), PacSun.com (32 percent) and HotTopic.com (30 percent).

	Top Gainers Among Top 25 Apparel Sites Unique Visitors (000) July 2003 vs. July 2003 U.S. Home, Work and University Users Source: comScore Media Metrix   June 2003 July 2003 % Change Total Internet Users 146,476 147,455 1% Apparel Category 30,420 34,176 12% Alloy 1,572 2,602 66% FREDERICKS.COM 1,082 1,595 47% FINISHLINE.COM 480 665 39% DELIAS.COM 679 909 34% ZAPPOS.COM 996 1,332 34% PACSUN.COM 858 1,135 32% AE.COM 1,219 1,604 32% LLBEAN.COM 1,251 1,626 30% HOTTOPIC.COM 843 1,093 30% CHADWICKS.COM 1,106 1,430 29%

21 Percent of Teenage Internet Users Visited an Apparel Site in July

While they may not be able to buy online without a parent’s help (or at least their credit card number), teenagers are for apparel manufacturers and retailers among the most sought-after age segments. With the Internet among teenagers’ most preferred entertainment sources, online marketing can be an extremely effective tool for reaching and generating buzz among teens.

Comparing July to the previous month, eight of the top 10 Apparel sites experienced a significantly higher increase in visitation among users age 13 to 17 (range of 7% to 191%) than the total category (5%). This indicates an increase in cross visitation activity at Apparel sites among teenagers.

Of the top ten Apparel sites among teens, HotTopic.com has the highest composition of teenage visitors, with an index* of 283 (meaning the relative proportion of Internet users age 13 to 17 among HotTopic.com visitors is nearly three times that in the total Internet).

*Composition index represents the extent to which each stated demographic group’s visitation to a site or grouping of sites is over- or under-represented versus each group’s corresponding percent of the total online population. Indices above 100 show over-representation, while indices below 100 show under-representation. An index of 100 shows parity.

	Retail-Apparel Category July 2003 U.S. Internet Users Age 13-17 Source: comScore Media Metrix   Unique Visitors (000) % Change vs. June-03 Composition Index Total Internet Users Age 13-17 11,667 -2% 100 Apparel Category Visitors Age 13-17 2,430 5% 90 Alloy 365 40% 177 Limited Brands 334 110% 115 Foot Locker Sites 327 22% 177 HOTTOPIC.COM 244 36% 283 OLDNAVY.COM 216 -10% 75 Nike 211 4% 133 AE.COM 205 7% 161 PACSUN.COM 200 123% 222 DELIAS.COM 193 62% 268 Gap Online 138 191% 72