Internet Shopping Enjoys Christmas Boom

Internet shopping services were used by almost 33 million Europeans during the month leading up to Christmas, according to new research from Jupiter MMXI. With 9 million at home users, the UK was behind only Germany’s 10 million in terms of online retail site usage, representing an increase of over 40% year on year.

Patricia Lueer, analyst for Jupiter, said: “Online retailers experienced a real growth in the usage of their sites in the run up to Christmas, which shows how Europeans have come to accept the internet as part of their lives. Online retailers report a successful Christmas period, which Jupiter MMXI have projected would be worth 2.9 billion Euro in Europe, an increase of 71% from 2000.”

National sites of online bookseller Amazon were found to have reached over 10% of the population in Germany, France and the UK. In the UK high street retailers including John Lewis and Marks & Spencer also did well in their online incarnations, making it into Jupiter’s top 10 retail sites for December 2001.

Sites offering electronic greetings cards also saw increased usage this Christmas, with Bluemountain proving popular across Europe, and Egreetings doing well in the UK.

Jupiter MMXI: 020 7563 1600 www.jupitermmxi.com

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