Online Christmas Gift Searches Climb 62% In Past Week
UK consumers have already started their Christmas shopping online, according to the latest analysis from Hitwise UK.
The market share of UK internet visits to the Hitwise UK 100 Retail Index (an index of 100 of the UK’s leading retailers) was up 2% last week over the same week in 2005 and up 6% over 2004.
Searches for ‘Christmas gifts’ have also started their annual climb, up 62% in the past week and up 81% over last year.
Hitwise said that video games and consoles are set to be popular this Christmas, with several of the top product related search terms sending visits to retail websites were for video game consoles. In particular, ‘nintendo ds’ was among the top 20 product search terms sending visits to retail websites.
Hitwise added that the Nintendo Wii is likely to be a hit this Christmas, with UK internet searches soaring ahead of the console’s UK release on 8th December.
UK internet searches for ‘Nintendo Wii’ have increased 8-fold in the past three months and searches have increased more rapidly than for other leading gaming consoles.
Heather Hopkins, vice president of research for Hitwise UK, said: “Based on our analysis, we expect that visits to retail websites will reach a tipping point this week and will begin their rapid seasonal rise.
“Early signs are good for a strong Christmas online, with retail websites likely to hit the growth rate predicted by Hitwise in August for 8% growth year on year in December.”
Hitwise: www.hitwise.co.uk