Online retailing continues to post healthy gains, and the latest analysis from Hitwise reveals that this growth is set to continue through the busy Christmas season. The online retail sector will grow 25 per cent in share of visits from July 2005 to December 2005, representing a 12 per cent year-on-year increase since December 2004.
Visits to online retailers will peak the week ending 3rd December 2005, with more than 1 in every 7 internet visits going to online retailers that week. This peak will be driven by visits to eBay UK , whose traffic peaks earlier than most other online retailers. Retailers in general will see their traffic peak the following week, week ending 10th December.
These predictions are based on analysis of UK internet user behaviour for the past two years and year to date data for 2005, and allows businesses to more intelligently plan online promotions and allocate customer support resources.
“This growth in online retailing is great news for retailers who are facing increasingly difficult times on the high street”, said Heather Hopkins, Director of Research for Hitwise UK . “Last Christmas was one of the best ever for online retailers and this year is shaping up to be even stronger. Firms that are well prepared stand to benefit considerably from increased consumer demand for online shopping.”