The consumer goods category once again saw significant growth gaining 23% to nearly 36 mln visitors, according to comScore. OfficeMax led the category with 15.3 mln visitors, up 170%. Other consumer goods sites achieving growth included QVC Sites, up 3% to 6.1 mln visitors, and Hammacher Schlemmer’s site Hammacher.com, up 9%to 807,000 visitors. The retail - music category posted a 17% increase to nearly 28 mln visitors, led by Barnes & Noble with 9.3 mln visitors (up 20%), CDUniverse.com with 3.5 mln visitors (up 4%) and eMusic with 3.4 mln visitors (up 89%). December saw shipping sites jump as consumers shipped and anxiously awaited their holiday deliveries. The category rose 21% to 37 mln visitors for December, with UPS Sites leading the category with 18.3 mln visitors (up 34%), followed by USPS.com with 16.8 mln visitors (up 19%) and FedEx with 12.3 mln visitors (up 28%).

---