If the Retail world sees the end of the year as the Triple Crown, Halloween would be the Kentucky Derby. It is the initial measure of shoppers’ purchasing power leading into the holidays, and companies are quick to be the first out of the gate with sales of costumes, candy, and decorations. Search behavior offers a unique perspective on how consumers use the online channel for Halloween shopping; being relevant one month out of the year, Halloween shoppers do not have an obvious go-to place to find the necessities, and thus they turn to search as a discovery tool.

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Coupon sites are in vogue these days. Traffic to the largest ones, which include those sites offering discount codes and printable coupons, is up 34% from this time last year, reaching just over 22.6 million deal-hungry shoppers last month.

These sites typically fall into two categories: those primarily offering manufacturer coupons (40¢ off Viva paper towels), and those primarily offering retailer-specific coupons (25% off your Target purchase). Considering how search drives traffic to these sites, retailer coupons are in higher demand. Of all searches containing the word “coupon,” the share captured by retailer-coupon sites grew by 22% year-over-year in March, while manufacturer-coupon share shrank by 13%.

The fastest growing coupon site overall is RetailMeNot, with 6.3MM visitors in March after expanding 268% from twelve months ago – the sort of growth that makes any domain envious. Apart from a straight-forward interface (you can either view coupons by category or by merchant), its distinguishing feature is a user-supported rating system that attaches comments to each coupon. If a coupon code stops working, you are alerted by others.

Its growth may also be linked to a search-marketing strategy that is arguably more effective than those of its competitors. Top search terms the other top five sites use to drive search traffic are either the sites’ names or generic coupon words (e.g. coolsavings coupons, printable coupons); RetailMeNot optimizes its site for merchant-specific searches to attract online searchers (e.g. jcpenney coupons, gap coupons).

One measure of success for this strategy is the degree to which the site routes users to the specific retailer they sought in the first place. A comparison between the most common referred-to retailers and the most-searched merchant keywords suggests that this is frequently the case (the popular term ‘jcpenney coupons’ matches the frequently referred site jcp.com). And evidently, visitors are in-market for discounts from retailers of any stripe. Among the top coupon sections on RetailMeNot are not just Clothing and Food, but Travel, Baby and eBay. On the impulse to offer the most savings, coupon sites overall have broadened the scope beyond the usual grocery store coupon circular to attend to the demand of all bargain-hunters. And as the online coupon world continues to grow, you can expect all discount sites to compete for better innovations and user experience to connect consumers with deals.

It’s hard these days to be a homeowner. The housing-turned-credit crisis has sharply lowered home values across the country, and the proposed solutions have focused more on major industry players than on deed holders. This week, the New York Times reports that Bernanke’s newest innovation is to lower mortgage rates to a level last seen around the time JFK was sworn in – but it would not apply to current residents looking to refinance. Yes, it’s a bleak time for homeowners, and for the businesses that depend on them. As a bellwether of the industry at large, both Home Depot and Lowes are underperforming their annual trend of site traffic from last year.

Even though absolute volume of visitors to each site is greater than last year, a 4-month comparison of month-to-month changes shows negative movement for both home improvement giants when last year that movement was better, if not positive. This trend suggests fewer homeowners are able to shop for home improvement products, let alone spend money toward them. In July, those items were more geared to summer amenities such as dehumidifier, air conditioner and ceiling fans; in October, the products of the season were warmer: insulation, fireplace and heaters.

The site conversion data supports this case. Total transactions on HomeDepot.com and Lowes.com are down from October last year, by 28% and 37% respectively.

An assessment of month-over-month change tells a worse story: last October, each site almost doubled the number of transactions from September; this October, both Home Depot and Lowes saw that number dip. As the housing market declines, it will become increasingly difficult to turn around sales for these home-focused companies. And while they will likely outlast the economic downturn, it is uncertain how much time that will take.

As economic woes seep out of the financial sector and gas prices shake consumer confidence, American shoppers are learning how to be bargain hunters. However, for Wal-Mart and Target, two of America’s most popular discount retailers, September sales fell short of expectations in a Back-to-School season that usually lifts the books. In the online world, last month was certainly a dismal one for growth as these retail giants maneuver for consumer attention. Target’s visitor traffic shrank by 6% and Wal-Mart’s 8% from August; and last September, Wal-Mart and Target were up 14% and 25% annually, while this year each crept upward a mere 5%. Since each site sees about the same amount of traffic, the competition happens at the on-site category-level.

For both, the Electronics category ranks atop the rest, but Wal-Mart electronics attracts a full two-thirds more people than Target. Scanning down the top-visited channels for Wal-Mart, it appears their emphasis is placed in technological gadgets, with TVs and video game departments two of the most popular. On the other hand, Target maintains an Apparel focus as Women, Baby and Children sections see the most visitors. At the same time, a battle for user engagement is championed by Wal-Mart, with nearly twice as many minutes spent per visitor than Target in every Top 10 category. Its TV section alone clocked in just under 4 minutes per user – apparently, people want to watch news of the latest economic downturn on a brand-new screen.

Seeking more than just ordinary visitors, though, retailers aim to attract those consumers with actual intent to purchase. To that end, site efficiency can be measured by the volume of purchasers funneled through the various shopping channels, and by the number of channels they eventually visit. Target does have an edge on channel exposure, with the average purchaser visiting about four categories, whereas Wal-Mart buyers visit only slightly more than two. If we break down each category again, this time by share of purchasers, we see a distinct change in the rankings.

Where Women and Baby remain at the top for Target, the Electronics category falls to the 10th spot, highlighting the fact that apparel-type channels are most successful for its online purchases. In fact, the top 3 channels attracting buyers are geared toward women, an important demographic for clothing merchandise. And though Wal-Mart purchasers are also likely to visit apparel sections, hi-tech channels such as electronics, video games and computers capture their interest as well – a stark contrast to those high-ranked channels on Target.

So where is the place for bargains? If you’re looking for the newest gadget, it’s likely you’ll visit Wal-Mart; need new shoes, Target may be what you’re after. With consumers less and less inclined to part with their money, expect both companies to capitalize on their most popular category of products.

As the end of summer approaches and July turns to August, many families are overcome by grief and relief: the former from students, that the first homeroom is near, and the latter from parents, for the same reason. With every advertisement baiting families with the “best” Back-to-School sales of the season, three major office supply retailers prepare to battle for the buck in the online channel.

A baseline check ranks Staples as the clear frontrunner, both by improving 32% on average in monthly visitors last year and by maintaining a strong lead overall across sessions and time. In the same period, Office Depot stays competitive while OfficeMax declines. Quality often outweighs quantity, however, and Office Depot culls a valuable shopper set by measure of time spent. Using length of visit as a proxy for user interest, Office Depot more than doubles its lead over the market average from last year in time spent per visit, lasting a full two minutes longer than Staples’ average.

Conversely, over last year Office Depot scaled down its bounce population against Staples (users who jump onto a site and quickly “bounce” off within 20 seconds; websites aim to minimize this traffic). Though OfficeMax consistently scored the lowest bounce share, Office Depot’s combined low bounce rate and high visit length imply its strength in effectively engaging users online.

The catch here is that time isn’t always money. While Office Depot grooms its audience well, Staples still carries a higher percentage of consumers through to purchase. Last month, Office Depot converted 4% of its visitors, but Staples enjoyed twice that conversion rate; OfficeMax, half as much. It would be a quick judgment to conclude that some site inefficiency (e.g. complicated navigation to product or purchase leading to longer sessions) pushes the market from Office Depot toward Staples’ shorter visits, resulting in more conversions. If this were true, we would see a shrink in visitors to Office Depot year-over-year, which is not the case. More likely, it is a question of price.

And to parents, price is the great driver of purchase. Heading into the new school year rush, all three of these retailers stand ready to compete for the greatest share of wallet. With an expanded internet shopper base this year, expect more and more of these purchases to be online at home rather than on line at the checkout counter.

Wanna see a movie? You’re not alone. Every weekend, millions of Americans head to their local cineplex to trade $20 for questionably buttered popcorn, sugar soda and a seat cushion in the name of entertainment. Magazine franchises, personal careers and the entire microeconomy of Southern California rise and fall with the popularity waves of this weekly ritual. As with most things, many moviegoers turn to the internet to guard against the bad movie experience, and a shortlist of the most-searched terms on the top movie reference sites indicates where popular opinion settled for the month.

Fresh off its Oscar sweep, the Coen Brothers’ award-winning No Country for Old Men ranks at the top in March, edging out the Harry Potter juggernaut, both of which hold a comfortable lead over the rest. This blended share metric also reveals the buzz of upcoming movies (the yet-to-be-released Batman sequel catches the 10th spot) as well as general television trends (ABC’s Lost grabs #3).

An extended updated list of the most searched cinema terms is available on Compete’s DataHub. Of course, popularity in the film world is short-lived, and few of March’s high-rollers will survive to the next month. Make sure to check back soon to see what bubbled to the top in the most recent of cinema searches!