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High street gains in online share
Some of the biggest names on the high street made the greatest gains in terms of internet visits over the Christmas period, according to new figures.Research carried out by Hitwise revealed that customers headed to the internet instead of the high street at Christmas, so that websites operated by traditionally physical stores increased their online market share during the festive season.
Entertainment retailer HMV increased its internet market share by 58 per cent during the period, food store Waitrose gained 107 per cent and Marks and Spencer was up 25 per cent - helping to boost the troubled group's recovery.
This is in line with predictions made by the analysis group's director of research Heather Hopkins, who forecast in September that such retailers would make online gains and that visits would be highest in the second week of December.
"Visits did peak in the week to 9th December 2006 and whilst they declined slightly the following week, remained stronger than they had in 2005, reflecting the trend to more last minute shopping," Ms Hopkins confirmed.
E-consultancy reports that Marks and Spencer saw an increase in online income of 70 per cent, John Lewis recorded a 60 per cent rise and Tesco gained 30 per cent on internet earnings.
Despite these positive online results, a recent study conducted for the Times found that UK firms fail to maximise on their online marketing potential. The highest placed British online retailer was Tesco, which came in 15th place.
Corporate Internet news posted on 12 January 2007
