The week ending December 3 was the most active cyber shopping week to date in both the UK and Germany, with visits to secure web pages up 69% and 72% versus the pre-holiday shopping period from 28 August to 29 October, according to new research from comScore Networks.
European Holiday Cyber Shopping Index* | |||
Visits to Secure Sections of Online Retailing Sites | |||
UK, France and Germany | |||
Source: comScore World Metrix | |||
U.K. | France | Germany | |
Holiday Season Shopping Periods | |||
Pre-Holiday Base Period Index | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Week 1 (10/30- 11/5) | 137 | 153 | 157 |
Week 2 (11/6-11/12) | 146 | 162 | 153 |
Week 3 (11/13-11/19) | 151 | 165 | 156 |
Week 4 (11/20-11/26) | 165 | 179 | 163 |
Week 5 (11/27-12/3) | 169 | 179 | 172 |
*Defined as the change in number of visits to secure sections of retail sites compared to the pre-holiday base period, which is the average of weekly visits to secure sections of online retail sites from 28 August – 29 October. An index of 165 should be read as, ?65 percent more visits to secure sections of retail sites took place, compared to the average (100) during the pre-holiday period. |
Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe, said: “We’re seeing continued strength in online shopping as people go online to browse and buy in time for Christmas.”
ComScore says that during the week ending December 3, Cyber shopping visits in the UK were led by Argos, which captured the highest share in the category (12%). Amazon Sites followed with 11% of all cyber shopping visits, and Tesco Stores captured 6%.
Top Retail Sites by Weekly Share of Cyber Shopping Visits from UK Users* | |
Period: Week Ending 3 December | |
Total Germany – Home and Work Locations, Visitors Age 15+** | |
Source: comScore World Metrix? | |
U.K. Avg. Share of Weekly Cyber Shopping Visits | |
Week ending 3 December | |
Top U.K. Retail Sites*** | 100% |
Argos | 12% |
Amazon Sites | 11% |
Tesco Stores | 6% |
Littlewoods Shop Direct Group | 6% |
Play.com Sites | 6% |
Apple Computer, Inc. | 4% |
NEXT Group | 4% |
Ticketmaster | 3% |
Groupe PPR | 3% |
The Carphone Warehouse Group | 2% |
*Percentage of total weekly shopping visits to secure sections of retail sites | |
** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs | |
***Not including eBay |
Previous research from comScore Networks revealed that retail websites in the UK experienced a 65% increase in shopping traffic in the week ending November 26 (see Christmas Traffic Increase For Retail Websites).
In addition, comScore said that during the first 38 days of the US holiday season this year, total online spending reached $15.6 billion, marking a 25% increase versus the corresponding days in 2005 (see US Online Holiday Spending Up 25%).