Focusing on activity at the top UK, French and German retail sites during the holiday season since October 30, comScore Networks found that that French retail sites have experienced the largest gains in the first three weeks of the season (vs. the pre-holiday shopping period from August 28 to October 29), capped by a 79% gain in cyber shopping traffic during the most recent week of the study (ending November 26) vs. the pre-holiday average.

German sites experienced a 63% rise during the same period, and retail sites in the UK saw a 65% increase.



"While cyber shopping visits rose most quickly in Germany during the first week of the holiday shopping season, online shoppers in France have since become more active," said Bob Ivins of comScore Europe.

In France, three retail sites accounted for nearly half of all cyber shopping activity during the week ending November 26, lead by Groupe PPR.



Cyber shopping visits in the UK were led by online super stores, including GUS, which captured 11% of the category.



German cyber shopping activity was led by Web.de Shopping, which accounted for 16% of total German cyber shopping visits during the week.



"As online spending continues to grow and account for a larger percentage of total consumer spending, the growth in online shopping could be the difference between a good Christmas and a great Christmas for many [European] online retailers," said Mr. Ivins.