Social networks deliver traffic to British retail websites

Between December 2006 and September this year, Hitwise found a large increase in the number of visitors to retail websites that originated from social networks such as Bebo, Facebook and MySpace.

by Helen Leggatt

In less than a year, traffic from social networks to U.K retailer’s websites increased by 153 percent, according to a recent study by Hitwise.

“In terms of internet visits, social networking has grown by over 70% in the UK since last Christmas, and it is starting to have a serious impact on many different types of website,” said Robin Goad, research director at Hitwise U.K.

One reason for this growth in traffic is the rise in the 55+ audience and a general increase in all other age groups, including the core 18 – 20 year olds.

eBay and other auction sites received the largest percentage of their total traffic from social networks, receiving 31.4 percent of all downstream traffic that social networks send to shopping and classifieds sites.

“Social Networks are now the fourth most popular source of traffic for Shopping and Classifieds sites after Search, Email Services and other Shopping and Classified sites,” added Goad.