U.K. and France See Significant Gains in Online Retail Traffic in November, With More Modest Growth in Germany
LONDON, U.K. – comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, released a report on visitation to online retail sites in the U.K., France and Germany during the Christmas shopping season. The study analyzed the total number of visits to online retail sites during November against a pre-season base period average to understand how the onset of the Christmas shopping season has affected online consumer habits when measured against a typical shopping week.
A Strong Start to the Christmas Shopping Season in November
Offering signs of tempered optimism that the consumer economy might be beginning to rebound after a tumultuous year, the European online Christmas shopping season got off to a solid start this year in the U.K., France and Germany. U.K. visits to retail sites were up 18-percent during the first week of November compared to a typical week during the prior two months, and increased even further throughout the month to enjoy a 41-percent growth rate during the week ending November 29. France also showed solid gains, culminating in the same 41-percent growth rate during the last week of November, while Germany showed slightly slower visitation growth, more comparable to that seen across the pond in the U.S.
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Christmas Online Shopping Uptake*
Percent Growth in Total Visits to Online Retail Sites
November 2009 vs. September/October 2009 Base Period**
Source: comScore, Inc.***
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Base Period Index (Aug 31 – Nov 1) U.K. France Germany U.S.
Week 1 (Nov 2 – Nov 8) 18% 36% 18% 8%
Week 2 (Nov 9 – Nov 15) 47% 49% 25% 11%
Week 3 (Nov 16 – Nov 22) 34% 30% 9% 13%
Week 4 (Nov 23 – Nov 29) 41% 41% 16% 29%
November Average 35% 39% 17% 15%
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*% change represents the change in the number of visitors to online retail sites compared to the pre-Christmas season base period average.
**Average weekly visits to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Aug 31 – Nov 1.
*** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
“That we’re seeing such strong growth in visitation to retail sites in three of Europe’s leading countries prior to the December pre-Christmas rush is, hopefully, a positive sign for the overall European economy,” said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni. “Right now the U.K. and France appear to be demonstrating the highest rate of traffic growth to retail sites, outperforming the U.S. by a considerable margin. While German growth has been slightly slower, the heavy part of the country’s online shopping season should begin in earnest during the first week of December.”
Top 5 U.K. Retail Properties
Across the month of November, average weekly visits to online retail sites grew 35 percent in the U.K. compared to the typical shopping week from the prior two months. Of the top 5 online retailers as ranked by average weekly visits across the month of November, Play.com Sites experienced the largest growth on the base period with a 62-percent gain, closely followed by the Home retail group, owner of Argos and Homebase (up 61 percent) and Tesco Stores (up 50 percent).
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Top 5 U.K. Online Retailers Ranked by Average Weekly Visits in November 2009*
Percent Growth in Total Visits During November
vs. September/October Base Period**
Source: comScore, Inc.
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Retail Property % Change in Avg. Weekly
Visits vs. Base Period**
Retail 35%
Amazon Sites 35%
Apple.com Worldwide Sites 22%
Home Retail Group 61%
Tesco Stores 50%
Play.com Sites 62%
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* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**Average weekly visits to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Aug 31 – Nov 1.
Top 5 French Retail Properties
Visits to online retail sites in France were up 36 percent during the first week of the month and remained steady throughout November. Of the top 5 online retailers, Groupe PriceMinister experienced the fastest rate of growth at 188 percent, followed by Amazon sites and Cdiscount.com, both with 40-percent gains respectively.
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Top 5 French Online Retailers Ranked by Average Weekly Visits in November 2009*
Percent Growth in Total Visits During November
vs. September/October Base Period**
Source: comScore, Inc.
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Retail Property % Change in Avg. Weekly
Visits vs. Base Period**
Retail 39%
Groupe PriceMinister 188%
Groupe PPR 37%
Amazon Sites 40%
Otto Gruppe 24%
Cdiscount.com 40%
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* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**Average weekly visits to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Aug 31 – Nov 1.
Top 5 German Retail Properties
In Germany, visits to online retail sites got off to a slightly slower start than in France and the U.K., but still showed a healthy 17 percent average weekly growth versus the typical shopping week. Amazon Sites was the fastest growing retail site during November – up 46 percent on the base period average – followed by Neckermann Gruppe (up 18 percent).
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Top 5 German Online Retailers Ranked by Average Weekly Visits in November 2009*
Percent Growth in Total Visits During November
vs. September/October Base Period**
Source: comScore, Inc.
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Retail Property % Change in Avg. Weekly
Visits vs. Base Period**
Retail 17%
Amazon Sites 46%
Otto Gruppe 2%
Arcandor AG -40%
T-Online.de Shop N/A
Neckermann Gruppe 18%
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* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.
**Average weekly visits to a pre-determined sample of leading online retail sites for the period Aug 31 – Nov 1.
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.
