Lindsay O’Gorman
Marketing Executive, Experian Hitwise
+44 (0) 203 042 4559 Tel
lindsay.ogorman@hitwise.com Email
EXPERIAN HITWISE ONLINE UPDATE
Cyber Monday December 7th and Sunday December 6th the joint busiest days for online retailers and pre-Christmas peak moves one week closer to Christmas this year
Department stores benefiting most from later online Christmas shopping
London, 8 December 2009 – Experian Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service, today reveals that ‘Cyber Monday’ December 7th and Sunday December 6th were the joint busiest days for online retailers so far this year. This means that the pre-Christmas peak in visits to online retailers has moved one week closer to Christmas this year compared to 2008, when the busiest day for online retailers was Sunday November 30th.
“Many industry observers consider ‘Cyber Monday’ to be the busiest day of the year for online retailers, but the Sunday before Cyber Monday is just as important in terms of Internet visits. Many consumers spend time browsing and comparing products and prices on the Sunday, before making their actual purchases on Cyber Monday itself,” commented Robin Goad, Research Director at Experian Hitwise. “This year, the pre-Christmas online shopping peak moved a week closer to Christmas – over the last couple of years it has been the last Sunday in November rather than the first Sunday or Monday in December. Bargain hunting will almost certainly have played a role, with many consumers leaving it later to order in the hope of finding better deals.”
Department stores benefiting most from later online Christmas shopping
Department stores and supermarkets have been the biggest beneficiaries of the shift towards later online shopping this Christmas. Most of the top 10 websites that experienced the largest increases in visits when comparing this year’s peak in traffic (December 6th) to last year’s (November 30th) were either department stores or supermarkets. Amazon UK experienced the biggest increase in visitors between the two dates, and was joined in the top 10 by high street names including Marks and Spencer, John Lewis and Littlewoods.
“The popularity of established names and stores with a high street presence the closer we get to Christmas clearly illustrates a preference for multiple delivery and dispatch options,” commented Goad. “For retailers to win trust at this time of year they must provide customers with both flexibility and security in this area.”
Ten retail websites that experienced the biggest increase in UK Internet visits between 30/11/08 and 07/12/09
|
|
Websites |
Domain |
Market share of UK Internet visits to retail websites 07/12/2009 |
Market share of UK Internet visits to retail websites 30/11/2008 |
Change (Percentage Points) |
|
1 |
Amazon UK |
8.2% |
6.1% |
2.1% | |
|
2 |
Your M&S |
www.marksandspencer.com |
1.3% |
0.9% |
0.4% |
|
3 |
Play.com |
play.com |
2.6% |
2.3% |
0.4% |
|
4 |
Littlewoods |
0.6% |
0.2% |
0.3% | |
|
5 |
John Lewis |
1.0% |
0.7% |
0.3% | |
|
6 |
VoucherCodes.co.uk |
www.vouchercodes.co.uk |
0.4% |
0.1% |
0.3% |
|
7 |
Amazon Seller Central |
sellercentral.amazon.co.uk |
0.1% |
0.0% |
0.1% |
|
8 |
Tesco direct |
direct.tesco.com |
1.0% |
0.8% |
0.1% |
|
9 |
Homebase |
0.3% |
0.2% |
0.1% | |
|
10 |
ShopWiki UK |
0.2% |
0.1% |
0.1% |
Jonathan De Mello, Experian’s Director of Retail Consultancy adds: “Retailers have been determined to learn from mistakes made last year by investing in a more focused multi-channel strategy this year – offering both online and off-line order fulfilment. The more traditional bricks and mortar retailers have invested heavily in their websites and this has clearly paid off for them, as they have managed to substantially increase their online ‘share of wallet.’ This has been to the detriment of the high street, as according to the BRC November, like-for-like sales rose at a slower rate than anticipated and this is backed up by our own Experian FootFall data, which has recorded a drop in footfall on the high street this week versus the same week last year. This trend will reverse in the next few weeks as Christmas approaches, and those retailers with both a high street and online presence will benefit most because products from their stores can be ordered online and delivered to the location most convenient for the customer.”
About Experian Hitwise
Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Experian Hitwise gives marketers a competitive advantage by providing daily insights on how 25 million Internet users around the world interact with more than 1 million Web sites. This external view helps companies grow and protect their businesses by identifying threats and opportunities as they develop. Experian Hitwise has more than 1,500 clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, media, travel and retail.
Experian Hitwise (FTS:EXPN), www.experianplc.com, operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Brazil. More information about Experian Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.co.uk.
For up-to-date analysis of online trends, please visit the Experian Hitwise research blog at www.ilovedata.com and the Experian Hitwise Data Centre at www.hitwise.com/uk/resources/data-centre.
About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 65 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to manage their credit relationships and protect against identity theft.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2009 was $3.9 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 40 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; Costa Mesa, California; and São Paulo, Brazil.
For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.