In the U.K. and France, online shopping activity built steadily throughout the season, peaking during the first half of December. The sixth week of the season (Dec. 3 - Dec. 9) recorded the highest level of online shopping activity, up 38 percent versus the base period (Sep. 3 - Oct. 28) in the U.K., and up 45 percent in France. Week 7 (Dec. 10 - Dec. 16) was the second busiest period of online shopping activity, up 35 percent in the U.K. and 39 percent in France.
Germany's online shopping season built more slowly, achieving peak traffic that was only 12 percent higher in the seventh week (Dec 10 - Dec 16) than in the base period. The high point occurred a week later in Germany than in the U.K. and France. The slow season in Germany appears to be the result of low consumer confidence and the rail strikes that brought the country to a stand still early in season.
"The online retail season seems to have built normally in the U.K. and France, while Germany lagged behind this Christmas," said Bob Ivins, EVP of European markets for comScore. "The typical pattern we note in all countries, including the U.S., is that online retail activity peaks in mid-December as consumers have to allow time for shipping and delivery of their purchases in most categories."
U.K. Online Retail Traffic Leaders
Throughout the Christmas shopping season, visits in the U.K. to online retail sites were led by Amazon Sites, which attracted a 9-percent share of total online retail category visits for the period. Apple Inc., which also has high-street stores in the U.K., had a 6-percent share, while the Home Retail Group, owner of multi-channel retailers Argos and Homebase, had a 5-percent share. Supermarket chain Tesco and online pure-play retail property Play.com Sites rounded out the top five with 4 percent and 3 percent shares, respectively.
French Online Retail Traffic Leaders
The leading retail site in France during the Christmas shopping season was Groupe PPR. The French multi-channel retailer, which owns brands such as LaRedoute.fr and Fnac.com, earned an 11-percent share of total visits to the online retail sector, more than twice the share of its closest competitor, Apple Inc. Amazon Sites, Otto Gruppe and CDiscount.com each followed with 4 percent of retail site visits.
German Online Retail Traffic Leaders
Throughout the Christmas shopping season, visits to online retail sites in Germany were led by multi-channel catalogue specialist, Otto Gruppe, with a 13-percent share of the online retail visits for the period. Amazon Sites - also a popular choice in the U.K. and France - ranked second with a 9-percent share. Arcandor AG, owner of multi-channel catalogue specialist Karstadt.de, had a 5-percent share, followed by Apple, Inc with 4 percent, and 02online.de with 3 percent.
