ComScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released results from a study of online shopping in Europe. In January, 270.6 million unique visitors in Europe visited sites in the retail category, representing a market penetration of 74.5 percent of Internet users, up 8.5 percentage points compared with last year.
Retail sites also showed high penetration in individual markets, reaching at least 75 percent of the total online audience in seven out of 18 European markets. In 2010, approximately one out of every ten Internet sessions in Europe included a visit to a retail site.
In the United Kingdom, the retail category reached 89.4 percent of the total online audience (up 6.3 points from last year), the highest penetration of any European market. France ranked second with 87 percent (up 10.5 points), followed by Germany at 82.1 percent (up 9.0 points). Ireland and the Netherlands reached 80.7 percent (up 15.8 points) and 80.2 percent (up 4.9 points), respectively.
Ireland and Russia experienced the highest growth in retail penetration in Europe, with both markets posting gains of 15.8 percentage points. Germany remains the largest European market for this category, followed by France and the U.K.
In January, visitors from the U.K. led in engagement in the retail category, with an average of 84.1 minutes spent on retail sites. France followed closely with an average of 83.2 minutes, with Turkish visitors coming in next at 73.0 minutes. Across the board, Europeans spent a collective average of 52.4 minutes, or a little less than an hour per visitor.
