January 02 2007

E-retailers see 65% increase in traffic

Microsoft and Google sites still saw the highest number of visitors in November, according to audience figures collected for the comScore World Metrix. The start of the Christmas shopping period saw visitor numbers increase on some retailer sites by as much as 65%, the company reports.

Google and Microsoft sites were both visited over 24 million times in November and the nearest e-retailer, Amazon, received over 13 million visits - a 10% increase over October's visitor numbers. "Clearly Google and Microsoft are locked in a battle to be the most visited site in the UK," said Bob Ivins, Managing Director of comScore Europe.

Highlighting consumers growing use of the internet for researching and buying products online, 12 of the 13 largest increases in visitor numbers in November (over October's figures), were recorded for shopping sites:

Boots plc with 2.7 million visitors (65% increase).

ToysRus with 2.6 million visitors (63% increase).

HMV with 3.3 million visitors (37% increase).

Woolworths Group plc with 3.5 million visitors (36% increase).

Play.com with 4.6 million visitors (27% increase).

Marks & Spencer with 3.1 million visitors (27% increase).

GUS with 8.6 million visitors (24% increase).

Arcadia Group with 2.3million visitors (23% increase).

Littlewoods Shop Direct Group with 4.6 million visitors (17% increase).

What will have been the challenge for internet retailers though in November and December is converting the increasing number of visitors into purchasers. It's already known that more money was spent online this Christmas than in 2005, but how many of those new customers (or higher spending ones) can e-retailers keep? Are these customers just for Christmas or can retailers keep them coming back and purchasing more as the year progresses - and how much will be spent on marketing to customers who were only one-off purchasers?

Emma Herrod