European Online Holiday Traffic Picks Up In November

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European Online Holiday Traffic Picks Up In November

By: Mike Sachoff
2008-12-05

While the U.S. had a strong start to the online holiday shopping season with spending up 15 percent on Cyber Monday, how is Europe doing?

comScore today released a report detailing the visitation to online retail sites in the U.K., France and Germany during the Christmas shopping period.

In both the U.K. and Germany, the Christmas shopping season is well underway, with visits to online retail sites up 10 percent and 11 percent respectively in November, compared to the two previous months.

Christmas shopping in France traditionally begins a bit later in the year and that held true for the 2008 season, with French retails site visitor growth up just 6 percent through the finals week of November.

While there was 10 percent growth in traffic to U.K. retail sites in the first four weeks of November compared to the past two months, visits to online retail sites is down 10 percent compared to the same period last year. The most popular properties were online auction site eBay, followed by Amazon and Apple.

In France, visits to online retail sites declined at the comparatively slower rate of 2 percent compared to a year ago, with some of the more popular destinations showing positive growth including Apple (up 7 percent over last year), and Otto Gruppe (up 2 percent). The most popular site was eBay, which increased total visitors by 9 percent in November.

In Germany, visits to online retail sites was down 7 percent versus a year ago, despite the highest increase in visitors during the November shopping period (11 percent) of any of the three European markets studied. The most visited retail site in German was eBay, with an 8 percent increase in visitors in November.

"With consumer confidence low and disposable income tight, this is looking like being a tough season for retailers," said comScore chairman, Gian Fulgoni.

"However this is a notoriously resilient industry, and the retail markets appear to be showing signs of life in Europe as Christmas shopping season kicks into high gear. With the recent tax cuts announced by Gordon Brown in the U.K. and similar initiatives planned in France and Germany, it will be interesting to see if Governments and retailers can restore consumer confidence and inspire increased spending in the run-up to Christmas."

About the Author:
Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.


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