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Spotlight:

2002 Wrap-Up -- A Look at the Numbers Every year, more and more Internet visitors discover the ease and convenience of shopping online -- and they continue to find what they're searching for at Yahoo!. As the online audience grows, so does the business of e-commerce. We'd like to thank the thousands of Yahoo! Store merchants who deliver great products, great value, and outstanding customer experiences year-round. Here are some key metrics showing e-commerce success on Yahoo! in 2002: There are now over 22,000 open Yahoo! Stores (December, 2002) Over 28 million unique visitors on Yahoo! Shopping in October 2002 (Nielsen/NetRatings, October 2002) Yahoo! Shopping is the #1 portal shopping site (Nielsen/NetRatings, October 2002) Yahoo! has a 73% reach among online purchasers (A. C. Nielsen Internet Confidence Index, September 2002) We look forward to continuing to help you get ahead in 2003. What's in store for next year? Keep an eye on your inbox for a 2003 Feature Preview, coming later this month.

Feature Update:

Introducing Yahoo! Store Polls You might remember, a few weeks back, seeing a Yahoo! Store Poll link in your Store Manager. Thanks to the more than thousand of you who replied to the question, "What is your primary method of processing orders?" The results are in! More than half the merchants who responded process orders online, using the Store Manager interface, while almost 25% of respondents receive store orders by email or fax, and process them on another system. Just under 20% export store orders to a different system for processing. Thanks to everyone who participated in this poll! Keep your eyes out for new merchant polls coming soon to your Store Manager. If there's something you've always wanted to know about Yahoo! Store, please let us know. We'd love to hear your suggestions for future polls and surveys.

On the Network:

Enhance Your Business with Yahoo! Web Hosting You may have noticed a new heading in the Store Manager console, called Web Hosting. Yahoo! Web Hosting offers affordable, professional services that work together with Yahoo! Store to enhance your online business. While you already have a robust storefront with Yahoo! Store, you can add on Yahoo! Web Hosting's services to extend your web site functionality and make your company more productive. Yahoo! Web Hosting includes: Support for PHP scripting and MySQL, so you can build advanced, dynamic web site pages, add a password-protected Intranet, and more Business-class email addresses, including spam-filtering, for up to 35 employees or departments A free domain name to use with your Web Hosting pages and email Snapshot backup and restore features to protect your web site and data Learn more about how Yahoo! Store and Yahoo! Web Hosting work together to support your success: http://webhosting.yahoo.com/ps/wh/prod/store_int.html

What's Working for You

Share Your Holiday Sales Successes How did you prepare for success this holiday season? What worked for your business? Did you run an innovative promotion, launch a word-of-mouth campaign, or make a big splash with a special offer? Are there any holiday pitfalls that you'd like to avoid next year? Now's your chance to toot your own horn and share your success stories! Whether you tried something new or stuck with tried-and-true tactics, please write to us with your ideas and tips for holiday sales success. We'll highlight several merchants' stories here next month. Go on - brag a little! This is a great opportunity to spread the word about your company while also helping out your fellow merchants.

E-Commerce on the Web

Links to Sites, Features, and Stories Online Holiday Spending up From Last Year Holiday e-commerce sales for 2002 started off strong for the week after Thanksgiving, typically seen as a major predictor of the season's success. Nontravel retail sales online soared to $912 million. Experts attribute the uptick to an increase in shopping online during business hours, with employees using high-speed connections in the workplace. UN: Worldwide use of Internet, E-Commerce Still Growing Global use of the Internet and adoption of e-commerce continue to soar, according to a U.N. report that paints a rosy picture for online commerce. Despite the economic downturn, U.S. shoppers continue to lead the world in Internet purchasing.