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Holiday Shopping Fuels Traffic Growth at Largest Online Retailers

By mike, Jan 27 in blog with 0 comments

More than 8 million Australians visited a Retail site in December 2009, representing a 3-percent increase versus year ago. The category was led by Apple.com Worldwide Sites with more than 3 million visitors, a 63-percent increase, fueled by continued growth at the Apple Store site which was visited by more than 1 million Australians. Amazon Sites followed as the second most visited retail destination with 2.5 million visitors, up 28 percent from the previous year. Coles Group Ltd., which includes Kmart.com.au, Target.com.au and Coles.com.au among other sites, ranked third with 1.3 million visitors (up 30 percent), followed by Woolworths Limited with 1.2 million visitors (up 48 percent).

Top 10 Retail Sites in Australia Based on Unique Visitors December 2009 vs. December 2008 Total Australia Internet Audience – Age 15+, Home & Work Locations* Source: comScore World Metrix
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Dec-2008	Dec-2009	% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience	11,696	13,040	11
Retail	7,920	8,123	3
Apple.com Worldwide Sites	1,873	3,050	63
Amazon Sites	1,994	2,544	28
Coles Group Ltd	1,005	1,304	30
Woolworths Limited	817	1,210	48
Shopping.com Sites	971	1,036	7
GETPRICE.COM.AU	381	652	71
MYSHOPPING.COM.AU	281	475	69
DEALSDIRECT.COM.AU	457	452	-1
Dell	284	448	58
AmericanGreetings Property	445	443	0

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

Top 10 Retail Subcategories

Computer Hardware ranked as the most-visited Retail subcategory in December with nearly 4 million visitors led by traffic to Apple sites. Comparison Shopping sites followed with 2.7 million visitors, up 16 percent from the previous year, as Web users sought product information and holiday deals. Shopping.com Sites led the Comparison Shopping category in visitation, with significant growth experienced at both GetPrice.com.au and MyShopping.com.au. Other subcategories to see substantial increases in visitation included Computer Software (up 46 percent), Apparel (up 41 percent), Department Stores (up 30 percent) and Consumer Electronics (up 28 percent).

Top 10 Retail Subcategories in Australia Based on Unique Visitors December 2009 vs. December 2008 Total Australia Internet Audience – Age 15+, Home & Work Locations* Source: comScore World Metrix
	Total Unique Visitors (000)
	Dec-2008	Dec-2009	% Change
Retail	7,920	8,123	3
Computer Hardware	4,384	3,926	-10
Comparison Shopping	2,305	2,665	16
Computer Software	1,100	1,604	46
Apparel	1,064	1,500	41
Department Stores	1,090	1,411	30
Consumer Electronics	1,088	1,394	28
Tickets	974	862	-11
Flowers/Gifts/Greetings	759	766	1
Sports/Outdoor	609	736	21
Retail – Food	438	582	33

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study on traffic to top Retail sites in Australia during the 2009 holiday season. The study found that three out of five Australians online visited a Retail site in December, as traffic to the category reached its highest volume of the year with more than 8 million visitors during the month.

“December continues to be the heaviest month for visitation to retail sites as the holiday shopping season reaches its pinnacle,” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia-Pacific region. “The online channel is an increasingly important component of retailers’ holiday strategies with a growing number of consumers turning to the Web for comparison shopping and purchasing convenience.”

About the author

Mike Andrew has been working with the Internet and small business for over 12 years. Mike has been a keynote speaker at conventions and seminars and conducted social media training sessions all over the world. Mike has an extensive media background having worked in electronic media for over 30 years. Mike specialises in social media and Internet marketing strategy, SEO techniques and search engine marketing campaigns. His articles appear on numerous blogs around the web as well as national magazines.