Cyber Shopping In U.K., France and Germany Accelerates as Christmas Approaches

    LONDON, Dec. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore Networks, a leader in measuring
 the digital age, today released the first in a series of European holiday
 season shopping analyses, which examine cyber shopping activity (defined as
 visits to secure Web pages) at the top U.K., France and German retail sites
 during the holiday season, beginning October 30. The analysis revealed that
 French retail sites have experienced the largest gains in the first three
 weeks of the season (versus the pre-holiday shopping period from 28 August
 - 29 October), capped off by a 79-percent gain in cyber shopping traffic
 during the most recent week (ending 26 November) versus the pre-holiday
 average. Retail sites in the U.K. saw a 65-percent increase, and German
 sites experienced a 63-percent rise in the most recent week compared to
 pre-holiday levels (See Table 1). Amazon and Apple Computer, consistently
 appear in each country's list of top sites, demonstrating the global appeal
 of these two brands.
     "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, managing director of comScore
 Europe.
     TABLE 1
     European Holiday Cyber Shopping Index*:
     Visits to Secure Sections of Online Retailing Sites
     U.K., France and Germany
     Source: comScore World Metrix
 
                                            U.K.    France    Germany
     Holiday Season Shopping Periods
     Pre-Holiday Base Period Index          100     100       100
     Week 1 (10/30- 11/5)                   137     153       157
     Week 2 (11/6-11/12)                    146     162       153
     Week 3 (11/13-11/19)                   151     165       156
     Week 4 (11/20-11/26)                   165     179       163
 
     *Defined as the change in number of visits to secure sections of retail
      sites compared to the pre-holiday base period, which is the average of
      weekly visits to secure sections of online retail sites from 28 August --
      29 October.  An index of 165 should be read as 65 percent more visits to
      secure sections of retail sites took place, compared to the average (100)
      during the pre-holiday period.
     "These gains show that consumers armed with high-speed access and
 positive online retail experiences are increasingly comfortable shopping
 online," commented Ivins. "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 online retailers."
     French Holiday Review
     In France, three retail sites accounted for nearly half of all cyber
 shopping activity during the week ending 26 November. During this week,
 Groupe PPR (owner of Fnac.com and La Redoute) captured 22 percent of cyber
 shopping visits in France. Online super store, CDISCOUNT.com, captured 15
 percent to of cyber shopping visits, and 10 percent of all cyber shopping
 visits generated by French Internet users went to Amazon Sites.
     TABLE 2
     Top Retail Sites by Weekly Share of Cyber Shopping Visits from French
     Users*
     Period: Week Ending 26 November, 2006
     Total France -- Home and Work Locations, Visitors Age 15+**
     Source: comScore World Metrix
 
                                   French Share of Weekly Cyber Shopping Visits
                                                        Week Ending 26 November
     Top French Retail Sites***                                            100%
     Groupe PPR                                                             22%
     CDISCOUNT.COM                                                          15%
     Amazon Sites                                                           10%
     Apple Computer, Inc                                                     7%
     3 Suisses                                                               5%
     ALAPAGE.COM                                                             5%
     QUELLE.FR                                                               3%
     Yves Rocher                                                             2%
     American Greetings Property                                             2%
     Hewlett Packard                                                         2%
 
     *Percentage of total weekly shopping visits to secure sections of retail
      sites
     **Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
       from mobile phones or PDAs.
     ***Not including eBay
 
     U.K. Holiday Review
     Cyber shopping visits in the U.K. were led during the week ending 26
 November by online super stores, including GUS (owner of Argus and
 Burberry), which captured the highest share in the category (11 percent).
 Amazon Sites followed with 10 percent of all cyber shopping visits, and
 Tesco Stores captured 7 percent.
     TABLE 3
     Top Retail Sites by Weekly Share of Cyber Shopping Visits from U.K.
     Users*
     Period: Week ending 26 November
     Total U.K. -- Home and Work Locations, Visitors Age 15+**
     Source: comScore World Metrix
 
                                U.K. Avg. Share of Weekly Cyber Shopping Visits
                                                        Week ending 26 November
     Top U.K. Retail Sites***                                              100%
     GUS                                                                    11%
     Amazon Sites                                                           10%
     Tesco Stores                                                            7%
     Littlewoods Shop Direct                                                 6%
     Apple Computer, Inc.                                                    5%
     Play.com Sites                                                          5%
     NEXT Group                                                              3%
     Ticketmaster                                                            3%
     The Carphone Warehouse Group                                            2%
     Groupe PPR                                                              2%
 
     *Percentage of total weekly shopping visit to secure sections of retail
      sites
     **Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
      from mobile phones or PDAs.
     ***Not including eBay
 
     Germany Holiday Review
     German cyber shopping activity spiked in the most recent week (up 63
 percent compared to the pre-holiday shopping period). The category was led
 during the week ending 26 November by Web.DE Shopping, which accounted for
 16 percent of total German cyber shopping visits, followed by Amazon Sites,
 which accounted for 12 percent, and Otto Gruppe, which captured 9 percent.
     TABLE 4
     Top Retail Sites by Weekly Share of Cyber Shopping Visits from German
     Users*
     Period: Week Ending 26 November
     Total Germany -- Home and Work Locations, Visitors Age 15+**
     Source: comScore World Metrix
 
                                   German Share of Weekly Cyber Shopping Visits
     Period                                             Week ending 26 November
     Top German Retail Sites***                                            100%
     Web.DE Shopping                                                        16%
     Amazon Sites                                                           12%
     Otto Gruppe                                                             9%
     QUELLE.DE                                                               6%
     O2Online.DE                                                             5%
     Apple Computer, Inc.                                                    4%
     NECKERMANN.DE                                                           4%
     T-Mobile.DE                                                             2%
     Tchibo                                                                  2%
     Medion Sites                                                            2%
 
     *Percentage of total weekly shopping visits to secure sections of retail
      sites
     ** Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access
      from mobile phones or PDAs.
     ***Not including eBay
 
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SOURCE comScore