Growth for European retail sites

A new industry report has shown that Europe-based retail websites are benefiting from an increasing amount of online traffic.

Data from comScore reveals that 160.6 million people across the continent visited online retail outlets during October this year - a five per cent increase on the corresponding month in 2006.

Traffic to sites of this type increased by 11 per cent in both the UK and France during the last 12 months, although year-on-year growth in Germany was significantly lower as a result of trade union strikes and a fall in consumer confidence.

Commenting on the findings, executive vice president of comScore Bob Ivins said: "The fact that the online retail market now covers 70 per cent of the European internet population and is still growing is impressive.

"The stronger than average growth rates in the UK and France portend a healthy Christmas shopping season there."

According to a new survey by Abbey, 36 per cent of British consumers intend to do the majority of their festive shopping online in order to avoid the stress of the high street this Christmas.
© Adfero Ltd