2024 State of Gaming Report
Retail Websites Now Reach 75 Percent of European Internet Audience Each Month
U.K., France, Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands Lead in Retail Site Visitation and Engagement
LONDON, UK, March 21, 2011 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released results from a study of online shopping in Europe. In January 2011, 270.6 million unique visitors in Europe visited sites in the Retail category, representing a market penetration of 74.5 percent of Internet users, up 8.5 percentage points versus last year. Retail sites also showed high penetration in individual markets, reaching at least 75 percent of the total online audience in 7 out of 18 European markets. In 2010, approximately one out of every ten Internet sessions in Europe included a visit to a retail site.
Retail Penetration and Engagement Growth in EuropeIn the United Kingdom, the Retail category reached 89.4 percent of the total online audience (up 6.3 points from last year), the highest penetration of any European market. France ranked second with a reach of 87 percent (up 10.5 points), followed by Germany at 82.1 percent (up 9.0 points). Ireland and the Netherlands round out the list of markets with highest penetration, with Retail reaching 80.7 percent in Ireland (up 15.8 percentage points) and 80.2 percent in the Netherlands (up 4.9 percentage points).
Ireland and Russia experienced the highest growth in Retail penetration in Europe, with both markets posting gains of 15.8 percentage points. With 40.6 million visitors coming to retail sites in January, Germany remains the largest European market for this category, followed by France and the U.K. with 36.6 million visitors and 34.6 million visitors, respectively.
Reach of Retail Sites in European CountriesJanuary 2010 vs. January 2011Age 15+ - Home and Work LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Percent Reach of Internet Users
Average Minutes per Visitor
Jan-2010
Jan-2011
Point Change
Europe
66.0%
74.5%
8.5
52.4
United Kingdom
83.2%
89.4%
6.3
84.1
France
76.4%
87.0%
10.5
83.2
Germany
73.1%
82.1%
9.0
63.8
Ireland
64.9%
80.7%
15.8
35.7
Netherlands
75.3%
80.2%
4.9
50.2
Spain
68.4%
76.7%
8.3
39.7
Denmark
68.2%
75.1%
7.0
40.6
Sweden
73.8%
73.6%
-0.2
43.7
Norway
66.7%
73.4%
6.7
38.0
Belgium
71.7%
73.3%
1.6
29.7
Switzerland
70.3%
73.2%
2.9
34.5
Poland
N/A
72.4%
20.4
Austria
61.3%
71.4%
10.1
34.1
Turkey
68.0%
69.8%
1.9
73.0
Italy
67.4%
69.5%
2.1
21.4
Finland
63.8%
66.5%
2.7
29.8
Portugal
60.2%
65.9%
5.7
23.9
Russian Federation
43.1%
59.0%
33.7
In January 2011, visitors from the U.K. led in engagement with the Retail category, with an average of 84.1 minutes spent on retail sites. France followed closely with an average of 83.2 minutes, with Turkish visitors coming in next at 73.0 minutes. Across the board, Europeans spent a collective average of 52.4 minutes, or a little under an hour per visitor, on retail sites in January.
Top Retail Categories in EuropeWithin the Retail category, the subcategory with the highest market penetration was Comparison Shopping, which reached 31.6 percent of the European market in January 2011, buoyed by Bing Ciao and Shopzilla Sites. Apparel ranked second with a 28.4-percent reach, followed by Consumer Electronics with a 27.1-percent reach.
Ranking the subcategories by engagement, Apparel sites ranked first, with European shoppers spending an average of 23.3 minutes on these sites in January. Apparel sites also had the highest percentage of page views within the Retail category, accounting for 21.6 percent of Retail pages viewed that month.
Top Retail Categories in Europe by Percent ReachJanuary 2011Age 15+ - Home and Work LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Category
% Reach
Comparison Shopping
31.6%
5.9
Apparel
28.4%
23.3
Consumer Electronics
27.1%
14.1
Computer Hardware
20.2%
17.4
Computer Software
15.9%
Top Retail Properties in the Markets with the Highest Retail ReachA snapshot of the five markets with the highest Retail category reach shows regionally-based and international retailers accounting for a significant portion of retail traffic. The British Home Retail Group, French luxury retailer Groupe PPR, German catalogue company Otto Gruppe, and Dutch media retailer Bol.com appeared in the list of top Retail category properties in these markets alongside Amazon Sites and Apple Sites.
A few top properties experienced significant growth in visitation over the past year across different markets. The Home Retail Group grew 10 percent in the U.K. and 52 percent in Ireland. Amazon Sites, which appears as a top retailer in all five markets, grew by 10 percent in France. In the Netherlands, Bol.com grew 10 percent and maintained its hold on the market as the most visited Retail property. However, the highest rate of growth in the Dutch market came from supermarket retailer AH.nl (Albert Heijn), which grew by 41 percent.
Top Retail Properties in the U.K. by Total Unique Visitors (000)January 2011U.K. - Age 15+, Home and Work LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Site
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Amazon Sites
18,876
48.8%
21.2
Home Retail Group
9,981
25.8%
18.8
Apple.com Worldwide Sites
8,933
23.1%
9.6
Tesco Stores
6,932
17.9%
16.9
Play.com Sites
4,714
12.2%
7.8
Top Retail Sites in France by Total Unique Visitors (000)January 2011France - Age 15+ - Home and Work LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Groupe PPR
18,956
45.1%
16.8
11,686
27.8%
10.6
Cdiscount
10,546
25.1%
19.6
Groupe PriceMinister
10,009
23.8%
Otto Gruppe
8,505
12.8
Top Retail Properties in Germany by Total Unique Visitors (000)January 2011Germany - Age 15+, Home and Work LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
23,735
48.0%
22.1
12,389
25.0%
20.9
6,700
13.5%
9.3
Bing Ciao
5,800
11.7%
2.3
eBay Shops Deutschland
5,601
11.3%
7.1
Top Retail Properties in Ireland by Total Unique Visitors (000)January 2011Ireland - Age 15+, Home and Work LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
566
27.9%
14.0
283
13.9%
225
11.1%
ASOS Plc
170
8.4%
33.1
Ticketmaster
144
7.1%
8.4
Top Retail Sites in the Netherlands by Total Unique Visitors (000)January 2011Netherlands - Age 15+ - Home and Work LocationsSource: Comscore MMX
Bol.com
3,485
29.2%
11.4
2,290
19.2%
7.9
2,251
18.8%
5.0
Wehkamp
1,860
15.6%
20.8
AH.NL
1,460
7.5
Comscore to Speak at Emerce eRetailComscore VP Guido Fambach and Senior Account Manager Henk Pleiter will be speaking at Emerce eRetail in Bussum, the Netherlands, on Tuesday, March 22, 2011. Mr. Pleiter will be providing insights into the state of online retail in the Netherlands, as well as an overview of broader e-commerce trends seen in 2010. Mr. Fambach will explain the importance of having comprehensive web analytics for online retailers to be able to make the most of their online marketing and sales channels. If you are planning on attending and would like to arrange an interview with Mr. Fambach or Mr. Pleiter, please contact Helene Azevedo on worldpress@comscore.com.
About Comscore Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital marketing intelligence. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
Ayaan MohamudComscore, Inc. + 44 (0) 203-111-1758worldpress@comscore.com