News.com.au has topped the Nielsen online ratings for the month of December, with the News Corp-owned website clearing its rivals by more than 200,000.
The website reached a unique audience of 3.28 million for the month, which is down from the site's record breaking 4m audience it drew in August last year.
The site is followed by the Fairfax-owned smh.com.au, which hit an audience of 3m.
The top five is rounded out by ABC News website with an audience of 2.6m, followed by Ninemsn which drew an audience of 2.12m. Coming in fifth is Daily Mail Australia with an audience of 1.9 million.
The Daily Mail Australia and Ninemsn News switched rankings in December, with Ninemsn News on top in fourth position. MSN News also made Nielsen’s top 10 rankings for the first time in the current events and global news sub-category.
Nielsen also highlighted that in the month of December, Australians were going online to research and buy gifts, purchase food and beverages and make the most of the post-Christmas sales.
Seven out the top 10 mass merchant retailer websites recorded double digit gains in unique visitors during December compared to November 2015. Woolworths and Coles recorded the highest number of unique visitors to their websites for a local retailer – behind global ecommerce giant, Amazon – and recorded growth of 14% and 13% respectively.
Monique Perry, head of media at Nielsen says: “Australian retailers and mass merchandisers are demonstrating strong adoption and innovation in the ecommerce space, giving consumers more ways to connect and engage. Understanding who these audiences are will be crucial for retailers to give consumers a relevant and efficient experience and sustain growth momentum throughout the year.”
See the numbers for yourself below:
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