Point and shop

Across Europe, 160.6 million people visited online retail sites in October 2007, an increase of 5 percent over October 2006, according to a comScore World Metrix report on the European online retail sector, with a focus on the UK, France and Germany, writes MarketingCharts.

The October 2007 visitor base represented 70 percent of the total European internet audience.

• In the UK, Oct. traffic to retail sites grew 11 percent YOY, totaling 29 million unique visitors.
• Online retail traffic in France also grew 11 percent, reaching 18.1 million unique visitors.
• In Germany, growth remained relatively flat, with the sector attracting 22.7 million unique visitors.

The lack of growth in Germany was likely due to the trade union strikes in the transport and service industries and the reported decline in consumer confidence, comScore said.

"The fact that the online retail market now covers 70 percent of the European internet population and is still growing is impressive." said Bob Ivins, comScore EVP of European Markets. "The stronger-than-average growth rates in the UK and France portend a healthy Christmas shopping season there. The weakness in the German market is a cause for concern, especially if the strikes continue."

Top 10 UK Retail Properties

• The UK's online retail sector attracted 29 million unique visitors in October, which amounts to 89 percent of the country's total online user base that month.
• The most popular property was online auction site eBay, which attracted 22.2 million unique visitors, or 68 percent of the U.K.'s total internet audience.
• Another pure-play online retailer, Amazon Sites, attracted 14.3 million unique visitors to gain 44 percent reach.
• The highest ranking multichannel retail property was Apple Inc, with 10.5 million unique visitors.

Top 10 French Retail Properties

In October, France's online retail sector attracted 18.1 million unique visitors or 65 percent of the country's total online population.

Top 10 German Retail Properties

Germany's online retail sector attracted 22.7 million unique visitors in October - reaching 68 percent of the country's total online population.