Searches for post-Xmas sales treble

There were 249% more UK Internet searches for the term ‘sales’ for the week ending 29 December 2007 than for the comparable week in 2006. There was also a 200% increase in searches for the term ‘sale’ over the same period.

"The post-Christmas online sales are becoming more and more important to retailers every year," commented Robin Goad, Hitwise UK Director of Research. "Online holiday shopping started earlier then ever this year, but a sluggish last couple of weeks before Christmas also forced many retailers to discount goods and start their sales earlier. For some online retailers, the January sales started on Christmas Day.

“In fact, Boxing Day was the busiest online shopping day of 2007, and there were almost more searches for ‘boxing day sales’ this year than there were for ‘january sales’ last year. As a result of this sales fever, weekly UK Internet traffic to Shopping and Classifieds websites increased by 13% between 22 and 29 December this year."

Play.com sees the biggest online sales boost 

Play.com received the most traffic from UK consumers searching for sale bargains. The online entertainment retailer received over a quarter of all UK Internet traffic from searches for ‘sales’ and ‘sale’ for the four weeks ending 29 December 2007. As a result, Play.com saw its market share of all UK Internet visits increase by 15% between 22 and 29 December, when it became the 4^th most visited Shopping and Classifieds website in the UK.

Top 3 Shopping and Classifieds websites receiving traffic from the term ‘sale’, week ending 29 December 2007:

The second and third most popular websites receiving traffic from UK Internet searches for ‘sale’ were Tesco Direct and Littlewoods. Meanwhile, ‘next sale’ was the most popular search term containing the word ‘sale’ for the four weeks ending 29 December, and was the second fastest moving search during the same period.

Weekly UK Internet searches for the terms 'sales' and 'sale'.

www.hitwise.com.