Internet 'likely to form basis of festive retailer success'

07/08/2008

E-commerce will play a significant role in the success of traditional high street retailers when it comes to sales this Christmas.

This is the conclusion of new report from research company Hitwise, which showed that high street retailers are beginning to overtake online-only stores when it comes to website visitors.

Stores such as Argos, Next and Marks and Spencer experienced 19.3 per cent more web traffic than online giants such as Amazon, Asos.com and Play.com last month, Hitwise revealed.

Robin Goad, research director at Hitwise UK, said: "Given the 2.6 per cent year-on-year decline in actual physical visits to retailers reported by Experian Footfall for July, it looks like high street retailers will be more reliant than ever on their online operations this Christmas."

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, web design usability is one of the most important factors when it comes to e-commerce success.