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Hitwise Holiday 2007
Retail Recap Report
January 2008
HLeeaadt hAenra lDysotu: gHheeartthyer Hopkins, Hitwise UK Director, Research, Hitwise
The power of competitive intelligenceContents
1 Introduction 1
2 Executive Summary 2
3 Hitwise Online Retail Trends 3
4 Sources of Online Retail Traf? c 54.1 Search, Email and Social Networking 54.2 Comparison Shopping Engines 64.3 Black Friday 7
5 Search 9
6 Key Takeaways 11
The power of competitive intelligence
©2008 Hitwise Pty. Ltd. All trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.1 Introduction 1
Each year the holiday shopping season represents the single most important customer acquisition opportunity for the majority of retailers, both online and of? ine. The double-digit growth rates in online traf? c during the holidays have continued to garner signi? cant attention from both marketers and the media, driving marketing dollars and consumer spending to the channel. Competitive intelligence becomes increasingly important during this critical period to understand what strategies have worked in the past.
This report will summarize several key online retail activities during the 2007 holiday season, including:
1Overall traf? c trends using the Hitwise Retail Index Sources of traf? c to the Hitwise Retail IndexSearch activity on the season's most popular products
1 The Hitwise Retail Index is a group of 100 leading retail websites from the Hitwise Shopping & Classi? eds industry and excludes websites of the following types: auctions, classi? eds, relationship sales and home entertainment websites including music downloads, DVD and video game rentals.
The power of competitive intelligence
©2008 Hitwise Pty. Ltd. All trademarks and logos are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved.2 Executive Summary 2
Strong overall traf? c growth despite economic fears - The total market share of visits to the Hitwise Retail Index increased by 17% between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
Shoppers ? ocked online on Thanksgiving Day to check out online-only specials and Black Friday promotions - The largest market share of visits to the Hitwise Retail Index occurred on Thanksgiving Day this year, an increase of 20 percent compared to 2006. This is the fourth year in a row that traf? c has peaked on Thanksgiving Day, making it the busiest day online in terms of market share of visits during the holiday shopping season.
Promotions drive season's highest growth in market share on Cyber Monday - The Hitwise Retail Index comprising the top 100 retail websites received 5.07 percent of all US visits on November 26, 2007, representing an increase of 26 percent versus November 27, 2006, with 4.02 percent of visits.
Search and cross-shopping drive the majority of referrals - Search engines and other retail websites topped the list of traf? c sources to the Hitwise Retail Index and together contributed 57% of upstream traf? c in December 2007. Email also remained a key communication tool to help drive customers to retail websites.
Traf? c to comparison shopping engines (CSEs) increased during the 2007 holiday season - The comparison shopping engines experienced strong growth during the holiday season, as price-conscious shoppers research holiday purchases. The market share of visits was 48% higher in December 2007 than last year.
Retailer participation helped drive additional consumer interest for Black Friday ad websites - Traf? c to Black Friday websites increased by 51% for the week ending November 24, 2007 compared to the same week in 2006 as a result of broader consumer awareness and a greater array of content from retailers.
Nintendo Wii and Uggs dominate product searches - Nintendo Wii and Ugg boots were consistently the top searches among products during this holiday season. Interest in the Nintendo Wii remained strong leading up to the Christmas holiday even as retailers ran out of stock.
Shoppers sought gift cards from credit card issuers - Visa and American Express gift cards were the most popular searches for 'gift cards' during much of December. Price-conscious consumers also looked for free and discounted gift cards to stretch holiday budgets.
The power of competitive intelligence
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