More Than 1/3 of Total Online Retail Transactions Occur in the Workplace; 8 in 10 U.K. Internet Users Now Access Online Retail Sites
LONDON, U.K. – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released the results of a study of U.K. online retail activity, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. The report found that 35 percent of spending at online retail sites in the U.K. occurred from work locations, based on a five month average ending May 2009.
Online Shoppers Browsing at Home, Buying at Work
In the U.K., 29.1 million people age 15 and over visited an online retail site from a home or work location in May 2009, representing 79 percent of the total U.K. online population. Approximately three quarters of the total visits, time spent, and pages viewed in the online retail category were made from home locations, with the remaining quarter occurring at work computers.
Interestingly, visitors from work computers were slightly more likely to purchase goods online than those accessing retail sites from home computers. While representing only 25 percent of total visits to the online retail category, workplace visitors accounted for 36 percent of online retail transactions and 35 percent of money spent at online retail sites, based on a five-month average ending May 2009.
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Breakdown of U.K. Online Retail Activity Home vs. Work
5 Month Avg. Ending May 2009
Total U.K., Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations*
Source: comScore World Metrix
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Location Home Work
Total Visits 74% 26%
Total Time Spent 74% 26%
Total Pages Viewed 75% 25%
Total E-Commerce Transactions 64% 36%
Total E-Commerce Spending** 65% 35%
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*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**Based on a representative sample of more than 100 e-commerce web sites.
“Although online shoppers visit retail sites about three times more frequently at home than they do at work, they only spend twice as much at home,” said Mike Read, SVP and managing director, comScore Europe. “That online shoppers are relatively more likely to make a purchase at work is not entirely surprising. In fact, we often see that people have very different browsing patterns between the two locations, having a tendency to be task-oriented and transaction-minded at work and more leisurely when browsing at home. By understanding such differences, online retailers can better optimize their online marketing and advertising strategies to reach consumers when they are closer to the point of purchase.”
Amazon is U.K.’s Most Visited Online Retail Destination from Home and Work
Amazon Sites was the most visited retail property in the U.K., receiving a total of 49.4 million visits in May 2009. Apple.com Worldwide Sites ranked second with 27 million visits, followed by Home Retail Group (16.1 million visits) and Tesco Stores (13.1 million visits). Apple.com, the U.K.’s second most visited online retail site, drew only 13 percent of its total visits from work locations, while NEXT Group attracted 35 percent of total visits from work locations, a higher proportion than any other top 10 retailer.
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Top 10 Retailers by Total U.K. Visits (000)*
May 2009
Total U.K., Age 15+ – Home & Work Locations
Source: comScore World Metrix
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Retail Property Total Visits % of Total % of Total
(000) From Home From Work
Total U.K. Internet Audience 2,051,590 72% 28%
Retail 297,157 74% 26%
Amazon Sites 49,434 75% 25%
Apple.com Worldwide Sites 27,002 87% 13%
Home Retail Group 16,064 73% 27%
Tesco Stores 13,148 68% 32%
Shop Direct Group 10,029 77% 23%
Play.com Sites 9,782 70% 30%
NEXT Group 5,473 65% 35%
Shopping.com Sites 5,242 79% 21%
The Carphone Warehouse Group 5,175 73% 27%
Arcadia Group Limited 5,053 78% 22%
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*Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
About comScore
comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
