Rivals Amazon, Wal-Mart get big traffic boost on Black Friday

The e-commerce battle between Amazon.com and Wal-Mart is shaping up as a win-win for both companies, at least in terms of web traffic. The two retailers saw a big jump in unique visitors on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, with Amazon up 28 percent and Wal-Mart up 22 percent, according to internet measurement firm comScore. Overall U.S. online spending on Black Friday was up 11 percent from the same day a year ago, hitting $595 million.

The Amazon-Wal-Mart price war started with top-selling books and spread to DVDs and a bunch of other categories. It's emerged as one of the central themes of the holiday shopping season, and the comScore numbers indicate the two companies are benefiting from all the buzz. Both companies are seasoned discounters, but it will be interesting to see how the price war affects their bottom line.

Amazon sites were the most visited on Black Friday, followed by Wal-Mart, Apple, Target and Best Buy sites, according to comScore.

"Black Friday" has long been a significant date for retailers, but the term may be losing some of its significance online with heavy discounting going on well before that. This year Amazon kicked off "Black Friday" on a Monday with a web page devoted to electronics and other deals.

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About Eric Engleman

ERIC ENGLEMAN is senior technology staff writer for TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal, covering online retail giant Amazon.com. Engleman tracks Amazon's increasingly complex business, spanning ecommerce, Kindle, cloud computing, and more. He's been covering technology and other industries for the Business Journal since 2003.

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