Holiday Season Booming in France, UK & Germany

The first online holiday shopping numbers are in for the 2006 season and it looks as if the UK, France and Germany are the big winners. More shoppers are turning to online shops for gifts this year.

by Kristina Knight

French retail sites have seen the largest growth, according to comScore, with 79% gain in online traffic the week ending November 26th. UK retail sites are very close to their French counterparts with 65% growth in online holiday shopping this year. German e-tailers are right behind the UK, seeing a 63% increase in online shoppers this year.

Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe said (in a prepared statement), "These gains show that consumers armed with high-speed access and positive online retail experiences are increasingly comfortable shopping online. As online spending continues to grow and account for a larger percentage of total consumer spending, the growth... could be the difference between a good Christmas and a great Christmas for many online retailers."

The top shopping sites in France so far this year are Groupe PPR (22% of shoppers), CDiscount.com (15%) and Amazon sites (10%).

In the UK, most shoppers are hitting Gus - owners of Argus and Burberry - (11%), Amazon sites (10%) and Tesco Stores (7%).

In Germany, WEB.DE Shopping received the most shoppers (16%), Amazon sites (12%) and Otto Groupe (9%).