Comscore Ranks Top Web Sites in U.K. for October
Online Retail Enjoys Significant Growth as U.K. Christmas Shopping Season Starts Early
LONDON, U.K., NOVEMBER 27, 2007 – Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its report on the most visited and fastest growing Internet properties in the U.K. for October, based on data from the Comscore World Metrix audience measurement service.
Top 10 Properties for October
Google was the most visited property in October, with 29.1 million unique visitors age 15 or older, and reaching 90 percent of the total U.K. Internet audience. Google was followed by Microsoft Sites, which attracted 27.4 million unique visitors, an 85 percent reach. Wikipedia continued to be the fastest growing property in the top ten most visited properties in October, increasing by seven percent to attract its highest ever U.K. audience of 14.2 million unique visitors.
The U.K.’s two largest online retail properties, eBay and Amazon Sites, both enjoyed increased traffic. eBay grew four percent to 22.2 million unique visitors, with Amazon Sites increasing five percent to 14.3 million.
Top 10 U.K. Online Properties | ||||
Property | Total Unique Visitors (000) | % Reach | ||
Sep 2007 | Oct 2007 | % Change | ||
Total U.K. Internet Audience | 32,179 | 32,444 | 1 | 100 |
Google Sites | 28,578 | 29,061 | 2 | 90 |
Microsoft Sites | 26,852 | 27,429 | 2 | 85 |
eBay | 21,438 | 22,191 | 4 | 68 |
Yahoo! Sites | 20,843 | 21,400 | 3 | 66 |
BBC Sites | 18,688 | 18,860 | 1 | 58 |
Ask Network | 15,001 | 15,920 | 6 | 49 |
Amazon Sites | 13,596 | 14,265 | 5 | 44 |
Wikipedia Sites | 13,293 | 14,248 | 7 | 44 |
Time Warner Network | 14,310 | 14,229 | -1 | 44 |
Fox Interactive Media | 12,542 | 12,718 | 1 | 39 |
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs
Ten Fastest Growing Properties for October
Six of the ten fastest growing properties were online retail sites, with five of these being multi-channel retailers. Growth to multi-channel retail sites was led by Woolworths Group plc, which was the fastest growing property in the U.K. in October, increasing 54 percent to 2.9 million unique visitors. It was joined by another big name high street store, Boots plc, which grew 44 percent to 2.6 million unique visitors. There were also gains for Sony Online, which grew 22 percent to 3.4 million unique visitors, Dixons Stores Group, up 19 percent to 5.3 million, and HMV, up 15 percent to nearly 4 million unique visitors.
The lone pure play online retailer in the fastest growing list was Play.com sites, which was also the largest of the U.K.’s top ten fastest growing properties. The property enjoyed a 34 percent growth to reach 6.7 million unique visitors in October
“We would expect to see an upward trend in traffic to online retail sites in the U.K. in October,” said Bob Ivins, EVP of European markets for Comscore. “In a survey conducted by Comscore in the last week of October, 48 percent of U.K. respondents said they had already begun shopping for Christmas. What is perhaps more notable is the rate of this growth. Multi-channel high-street stores like Woolworths and Boots experienced significant increases and if this trend continues we should see very strong online sales for high-street stores this Christmas.”
Outside of the retail category, there was notable growth for Royal Mail Group. Traffic to the site grew 23 percent to 4.4 million unique visitors, driven in large part by the nation-wide mail worker strikes that took place at the beginning of the month. Reed Elsevier Group was the fourth fastest growing property in the U.K., increasing total traffic 25 percent to 2.6 million unique visitors. Much of this growth can be attributed to the seasonal trend of increased traffic to career services and job search sites in October, which saw Reed Elsevier Group owned site, Totaljobs.com, increase 28 percent over the course of the month.
Top 10 U.K. Gaining Properties | |||
Property | Total Unique Visitors (000) | ||
Sep 07 | Oct 2007 | % Change | |
Total U.K. Internet Audience | 32,179 | 32,444 | 1 |
Woolworths Group plc | 1,890 | 2,911 | 54 |
Boots Plc | 1,779 | 2,565 | 44 |
Play.com Sites | 5,033 | 6,733 | 34 |
Reed Elsevier Group | 2,115 | 2,642 | 25 |
Royal Mail Group | 3,590 | 4,404 | 23 |
Sony Online | 2,777 | 3,388 | 22 |
Glam Media | 3,161 | 3,798 | 20 |
Dixons Stores Group | 4,410 | 5,255 | 19 |
Demand Media | 2,374 | 2,802 | 18 |
HMV | 3,435 | 3,958 | 15 |
* Excludes traffic from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs
About Comscore
Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world. This capability is based on a massive, global cross-section of more than 2 million consumers who have given Comscore permission to confidentially capture their browsing and transaction behavior, including online and offline purchasing. Comscore panelists also participate in survey research that captures and integrates their attitudes and intentions. Through its proprietary technology, Comscore measures what matters across a broad spectrum of behavior and attitudes. Comscore analysts apply this deep knowledge of customers and competitors to help clients design powerful marketing strategies and tactics that deliver superior ROI. Comscore services are used by more than 800 clients, including global leaders such as AOL, Microsoft, Yahoo!, BBC, Carat, Cyworld, Deutsche Bank, France Telecom, Best Buy, The Newspaper Association of America, Financial Times, ESPN, Fox Sports, Nestlé, Starcom, Universal McCann, the United States Postal Service, Verizon, ViaMichelin, Merck and Expedia. For more information, please visit www.comscore.com