Hitwise to supply ecommerce data weekly

Hitwise has launched a new retail data center which will provide e-tailers with weekly updates on shopping trends. With the launch of the new data center, online marketers don't have to wait for monthly reports from metrics firms.

by Kristina Knight

The reports will be based on consumer behaviors in visiting ecommerce hubs during their online sessions. The center will track 20,000 etailers in 21 different shopping categories to come up with a comprehensive look at how consumers are shopping online. This type of glimpse could give etailers an edge in creating their next online campaign, especially as the calendar heads into the traffic-heavy holiday buying season.

The data reports will give etailers a top 20 in visited websites, the top 10 search terms used by online shoppers and most visited shopping websites. Hitwise analysts will blog about the findings and those posts will also be available to etailers. The information will be updated each Tuesday.

In addition to providing shopping data for US etailers, ecommerce hubs in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong will have reports available within the Hitwise websites for those countries.

According to a recent poll from the National Retail Federation, more US shoppers plan to buy online this holiday season. In 2006 about 28% of shoppers purchased a gift online; in 2007, that number is expected to increase to just over 30%. On average, each US shopper is expected to spend about $923 online during the holiday shopping season this year.