25 Oct 2007

Trends and Stats - Online Holiday Shoppers

Looking at last years statistic from Hitwise, November and December are predictably peak times for online stores with visits ramping up early October and hitting a peak in late November.

Click on the graph to the right and read the following comments from Hitwise. 

Some interesting points from this table:

• Appliances & Electronics, Books, Department Stores, Flowers & Gifts, Grocery & Alcohol and Video & Games attract significant growth rates for all three time points.
• Music, House & Garden and Sports & Fitness attract last minute shoppers (as well as bargain-hunters for post-Christmas day discounts).
• Flowers & Gifts had the highest growth rate, with 55% w/ending 16/12/06.
• Grocery & Alcohol spiked by 38% w/ending 16/12/06, corresponding to the highest volume in searches for 'hampers' in 2006.

Predictions for Holiday Shopping 2007

• Visits to Department Stores will increase throughout December 2007, but will peak late in the month as users browse online but purchase instore just prior to Christmas day.

Music, Video and Games will peak late December as users have the option of buying gift cards from online services such as iTunes, or bricks and mortar stores such as JBHI-FI.

• Books will remain a popular category throughout the whole holiday shopping period
• House & Garden websites are likely to become an important source of gift ideas this year, having maintained their momentum in 2007 since Christmas 2006.

Source: Hitwise Intelligence, Sandra Hanchard, 24 October 2007