Online Sales Blog

Keywords Search Is the Most Important Sales Initiative

2013-05-09T11:11:00.001+02:00

Getting customers by having the right keywords is the most important merchandising initiative according to the 2013 Merchant Survey Results from The E-tailing Group. The survey had 148 respondents among senior executives with responsibility for e-commerce in the US.

Ratings and e-mails
Two other very popular initiatives are newsletters and Social Commerce. E-mail Marketing has been around forever and is very effective. A newsletter is a must on any e-commerce website. Social Commerce ie given the customers the possibility to rate, review and share these became popular about a decade ago. And it works. People trust other people.

50 Features
The executives were given 50 features which were ranked on a 5-point scale: 5 being very valuable and 1 indicating not at all valuable in driving revenue and results. This is how they rated the 50 initiatives

Merchandicing initiative	Percentage in Top 3
Keywords search	98
Product rating and review	95
E-mail Marketing	95
Free shipping	94
Seasonal promotions	93
Cross sell	93
What's new	92
Up sell	91
Top rated	91
Alternate views	91
Top sellers	90

Source: e-tail detail (April 2013)

This is what your competitors think are the most important merchandicing initiatives. If some of these are absent from your merchandicing mix, you might want to investigate if you should implement they and increase your revenue.

See the press release from E-tailing Group.

2 in 3 Leave Hard-to-Use Webshops

2013-05-04T17:28:00.003+02:00

A staggering 65 per cent or 2 in 3 say they will leave a webshop if it doesn’t give them what they want quickly, a study by OnePoll shows based on 2,000 US consumers. They’ll shop elsewhere and you lost the transaction. This means that you must have a great search engine on your website and an easy to understand and use menu navigation. Don’t name the navigation menu what you (the company) call your products but what your customers will call them. And don’t make it too artistic, colourful or in other way confusing. It might look great but you could end up losing the sale.

Make the Transaction Easy - for Pete's sake
Half of our online customers (49 per cent) actually abandon transactions which take too long. On top of that 48 per cent of online shoppers leave the transaction if it is too complicated. So make the website easy to use and make sure your purchase flow is as simple as possible. Goes without saying, really. They rather go elsewhere than to try to figure out how to shop on your website - despite your might have a great offer.

This Annoys Our Costumers Online

62 per cent are annoyed when he/she has already given his/her personal information online or via phone and has to repeat them to customer service.
59 per cent think it’s irritating when he/she is transferred to another person in customer service and he/she has to repeat account information or issues.
52 per cent don’t like to wait for a credit on an account after returning a product.
49 per cent find it frustrating to have to deal with the hassle of returning online purchases.
47 per cent hate trying to buy something online, only to find it’s unavailable.

Mobile Internet Usage Continues to Rise Dramatically

2012-08-08T14:08:00.002+02:00

It's about the last chance to make a mobile website if it isn't too late already. In a survey conducted by Accenture in 13 countries shows that it has become a part of the daily life to access the mobile Internet. Those who don’t have a mobile web-enabled device say they will buy one soon. Smartphones are the most popular mobile Internet access medium. In other words, consumers want to access you webshop with their smartphone and tablet.

Apps
Usability and mobile apps are the primary drivers of mobile Internet use, with a higher proportion of users having downloaded programs and apps on their mobile devices in the past one year. Consumers are now more willing than ever before to pay for premium services. Mobile payments are also a significant way to expand your business with growing use and awareness of these services.

Statistics from the report
22% use the internet on a tablet
37% use a netbook
45% of those above 50 has used mobile internet
46% has conducted a bank transaction on a mobile device
61% has used their smartphone to access the internet
62% has accessed a social network
70% uses their mobile device to receive and send e-mails
71% has downloaded programs and apps on their mobile device

Download the report from Accenture.

Pinterest Brings Business to Your Site

2012-04-09T12:33:00.000+02:00

The new kid on the social media block is called Pinterest where you pin photos of things you like on your Pinboard. People can then follow eachother and be inspired by what other people pin on their different Pinboards.

The difference between Twitter and Pinterest is that we actually see what we are clicking on and what we are supposed to see before we click on it.

Pinterest means business
A survey made by Pricegrabber shows that 21 per cent have purchased articles or products they have found on someone’s Pinboard. The most popular products are close connected to their interests which are mentioned below. This means people are buying cooking utensils, art and crafts things and, as always, clothing.

You can be a part of this new social media phenomenon. Put a “Pin” buttons on you site and get people to share/pin it. And if you are lucky and a great online businessman you might see your sales go up.

Area of interest
As indicated above the most popular area of interest is cooking followed by home decorating, crafting, fashion, entertainment and gardening. 70 per cent say that cooking and recipes are their number one interest on Pinterest.

One in ten log in every day and little more than one in three (37%) in the survey say they log in a few times a week. The most active have anywhere from 1-10 Pinboards.

Huge Increase in Android Usage in Europe

2012-02-26T13:05:00.000+01:00

The use of the Android operating system has increased dramatically in the three largest countries in Europe during the last year. At the same time the Symbian operating system used in Nokia's mobile phones has plummeted.

Smartphone Market Share by OS in the Three Major European Countries

Operating system	UK Dec-11	UK Dec-10	France Dec-11	France Dec-10	Germany Dec-11	Germany Dec-10
Android	36.6%	18.6%	35.4%	19.3%	33.6%	11.6%
iOS	26.4%	27.4%	25.2%	30.0%	22.2%	20.7%
RIM	18.3%	17.1%	9.2%	8.1%	3.3%	4.8%
Symbian	14.5%	29.6%	17.0%	30.2%	46.4%	28.4%
Microsoft	2.5%	4.9%	4.4%	9.6%	7.9%	12.5%

Source: Comscore (February 2012)

If you are optimising your mobile site for Nokia phones it might be the time to focus on phones with Android operating system and iPhones.

See press release from Comscore.

Americans Shopped for Almost $50 Billion Dollars Online in Q4 2011

2012-02-12T15:57:00.001+01:00

If you have considered opening an online shop in America but have been affraid that it might not be successful, well, the time might be just right. In the final months of 2011 ie October, November and December 2011 the Americans bought for almost 50 (49.7) billions dollars, a study from Comscore shows.

Double Digit Growth
There is more good news. The Americans have become quite good when it comes to typing in their credit card details in online shops. The study shows that 9 quarters in a row have had a positive year-over-year growth in American online spending. And it gets even better: For five quarters in a row there's been double digit growth. The table below is retail e-commerce (non-travel) excluding auctions, autos and large corporate purchases.

Period	E-commerce Spending ($ million)	YOY growth
Q4 2011	49,698	14%
Q3 2011	36,308	13%
Q2 2011	37,501	14%
Q1 2011	38,002	12%
Q4 2010	43,432	11%
Q3 2010	32,133	9%
Q2 2010	32,942	9%
Q1 2010	33,982	10%
Q4 2009	39,045	3%
Q3 2009	29,552	-2%
Q2 2009	30,169	-1%
Q1 2009	31,031	0%
Q4 2008	38,071	-3%
Q3 2008	30,274	6%
Q2 2008	30,581	13%
Q1 2008	31,178	11%
Q4 2007	39,132	19%
Q3 2007	28,441	23%
Q2 2007	27,176	23%
Q1 2007	27,970	17%

Source: Comscore (February 2012)

As shown above there is still room for improvement compared to the happy days before the financial crisis back when the e-commerce spending was growing 23 per cent. But we a slowly getting there - and if you want to be a part of this, it might be now you have live you dream and open a webshop.

See press release from Comscore.

Bing Beats Yahoo

2012-01-15T12:19:00.000+01:00

Bing is now the second most popular search engine in America. Almost three years after Bing was introduced (Bing went online June 3, 2009 as a substitution for Live Search, Windows Live Search and MSN Search) it has now overtaken Yahoo's position as Google's worst competitor. An analysis by Comscore shows that Google sites led the U.S. explicit core search* market in December with 65.9 percent market share, followed by Microsoft sites with 15.1 per cent and Yahoo sites with 14.5 per cent.

Explicit Core Search* share report total U.S. – home and work locations

Total Explicit Core Search	Nov-11	Dec-11	Change
Google sites	65.4%	65.9%	0.5%
Microsoft sites	15.0%	15.1%	0.1%
Yahoo sites	15.1%	14.5%	-0.6%
ASK networks	2.9%	2.9%	0.0%
AOL	1.6%	1.6%	0.0%

Source: Comscore (January 2012)
*Explicit Core Search excludes contextually driven searches that do not reflect specific user intent to interact with the search results.

The analysis shows that from November to December 2011 Yahoo has lost 0.6 per cent of its searches. 0.5 per cent of the searches is now done at Google instead and just 0.1 per cent of the searches is now done on Bing. Unfortunately for Yahoo, this tiny percentage has the result that Bing is now the second most popular search engine in America.

See Press release by Comscore.

M-commerce Break Through This Holiday

2012-01-08T12:59:00.000+01:00

This holiday season the mobile phone finally had it's commercial break through in America. A survey by TechBargain shows that 58 per cent of shoppers have made their Christmas shopping via their mobile phones. Of the 58 per cent 69 per cent use both the mobile browser and apps to buy products (18 per cent only use apps, 13 per cent only use a mobile browser). For those who shop with their mobile phone, 79 per cent use it to research products, 73 per cent to browse stores and 77 per cent to compare prices.

3 in 4 say ease of use
70 per cent of mobile shoppers buy digital goods, 60 per cent consumer products, 46 per cent buy services and 38 per cent consumable goods. 3 in 4 (76 per cent) say ease of use is the reason they would buy one category of products over another and 1 in 3 (34 per cent) say price point as the reason why they would buy in one category over another.

See an excerpt of TechBargain's Survey.

Facebook Is the Most Popular Social Networking Site

2012-01-01T17:18:00.001+01:00

It's hardly any surprise that Facebook was the most popular social networking site in America in 2011 (January-October). What might surprise is that Twitter is only third on the list surpassed by Blogger. According to Nielsen do 137,664,000 unique visitors visit Facebook each month. This is more than three times the number of unique visitors visiting Blogger.

Top 10 U.S. Social Networks & Blogs

Web brand	Avg # of Unique Visitors (000) per month
Facebook	137,664
Blogger	45,712
Twitter	23,574
Wordpress	20,357
MySpace	17,935
Linkedin	17,020
Tumblr	10,879
Google+	8,207
Yahoo! Pulse	8,063
Six Apart Typepad	7,793

Source: Nielsen Wire (December 2011)

See Nielsens Tops of 2011.

Google Is the Most Popular Website in America

2012-01-01T16:49:00.000+01:00

Google was the most visited website in America in 2011 (January-October). According to Nielsen do 153,441,000 unique visitors visit the search engine each month.

Top 10 U.S. Web Brands in 2011

Web brand	Avg # of Unique Visitors (000) per month
Google	153,441
Facebook	137,644
Yahoo!	130,121
MSN/WindowsLive/Bing	115,890
YouTube	106,692
Microsoft	83,691
AOL Media Network	74,633
Wikipedia	62,097
Apple	61,608
Ask Search Network	60,552

Source: Nielsen Wire (December 2011)

See Nielsens Tops of 2011.

Google+ Is Growing Fast

2012-01-01T11:50:00.000+01:00

A lot of companies have been a little hesitant asking themselves: Should we make make a Google+ account or not? If you look at the numbers released by Paul Allen at Google the answer is yes. Yes, you should. Each day are 625,000 new Google+ accounts opened. Paul Allen expects that by the end of 2012 there will be more than 400 million Google+ users. In the beginning Google's social network wasn't even for companies so you couldn't even sign up. But that has changed. Now there is no reason not to join Google+.

The growth of Google+ accounts looks like this:

Date	Numbers
July 13	10 million
August 1	20.5 million
September 1	24,7 million
October 1	38 million (Larry Page announced "more than 40m users" on Oct 13)
November 1	43 million
December 1	50 million
December 27	62 million
January 1	65.8 million (forecast)
February 1	85.2 million (forecast)

Source: Paul Allen (December 2011)

December has been especially busy for the people at Google. Almost one in four of all Google+ users (24.01%) have joined in December.

See Paul Allen's entry at Google+.

The Italians Are the Champions of Socializing

2011-12-17T15:32:00.001+01:00

In Italy you see people gathering everywhere having a chat. They are really great at socializing. But that's not limited to the physical world. Online they are great too. The Italians are the champions of social media. In Italy 8 in ten (80%) has set up a social networking profile, market report from Ofcom states.

Consumers who have have a social network profile

Country
Italy	80%
UK	70%
France	71%
Germany	65%
USA	78%

Source: Ofcom (December 2011)

It's primarily the young who visit social networking sites. The trend is the same all over Europe except in Italy where more people in each age groups seem to have adopted social networking sites compared to the rest of Europe.

Consumers who have visited a social networking website, by age

Country	18-24	25-44	45-64
Italy	93%	87%	74%
UK	92%	82%	71%
France	92%	81%	65%
Germany	88%	78%	64%
USA	95%	85%	73%

Source: Ofcom (December 2011)

In the two age groups 18-24 and 25-44 more than half visit a social networking site more than 2 times a day. Facebook is still the most popular social networking site - all over Europe.

Get the Ofcom International Communications Market Report 2011.

British Consumers Prefer the Web over the Store

2011-12-11T10:28:00.001+01:00

Why go to the store when you can shop online? This could be the motto of the British consumer. According to a survey by KPMG most British consumers prefer to shop online rather than going to the high street store. Three in four (74 per cent) of British consumers say they are more likely to buy flights and vacations online and 77 per cent prefer to buy CDs, DVDs, books and video games online.

	Britain	Global
Prefer to buy flights and vacations online	74%	70%
Prefer to buy CDs, DVDs and books and video games online	77%	65%

Source: KPMG (December 2011)

However, when it comes to luxury items most people say they prefer to go to the store and four in ten consumers still seem to avoid grocery shopping online. This is especially evident in America where more than three in four say they would book a flight online, but only 21 per cent say they are more likely to buy groceries online.

Tablets
When shopping in a store almost half (45 per cent) of the British use their mobile phone or device to find the nearest store, a third (32 per cent) use their phone or mobile device to research products and services, 30 per cent use their phone or device for online coupons and one in five (19 per cent) scan barcodes for product information. Globally 41% research products and services and almost a quarter pay with their mobile device.

Mobil device usage	Britain
Locate store	45%
Research products	32%
Online coupons	30%
Scan barcodes for product information	19%

Source: KPMG (December 2011)

Ratings and reviews
When buying products or services the majority of customers in the UK and globally consult feedback and ratings pages on the internet or get information on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

See news release by KPMG.

Social Networking Has Gone Mobile

2011-11-26T12:23:00.001+01:00

In the beginning, we used our mobile phone to talk to other humans, then we began texting each other and now it seems we are using our mobile friend to access social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tumblr and all the rest. A study from Comscore reveals that in September 2011, 55.1 million mobile users in Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, France and Spain visited social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device, representing 23.5 per cent of the total mobile audience in these five countries.

Huge increase in daily visitors
In the last year, there has been an increase in the visiting frequency. People visit social media sites and blogs more often. 25.8 million mobile users visit a social networking site and or blog almost daily. This is a huge increase compared to the same period last year. The table below shows the frequency for mobile users visiting social networking site or blogs on a 3 month average ending in September 2010 vs. September 2011.

	Sep. 10	Sep. 11	Change
Visited a Social Networking Site or Blog ever	38,395,000	55,125,000	44%
Visited a Social Networking Site or Blog almost every day	15,438,000	25,779,000	67%

Source: Comscore (November 2011)

If you want people to visit your social networking site, you might want to consider making an application. The number of people accessing social networking site via a internet browser is still higher than people accessing it via an application but mobile users accessing a social networking site via an application has double within a year. The table below shows the accessing method for mobile users visiting social networking site or blog on a 3 month average ending in September 2010 vs. September 2011.

Social Networking Access Method	September 10	September 11	Change
Via mobile browser	23,855,000	31,307,000	31%
Via application	12,507	24,208	101%

Source: Comscore (November 2011)

Facebook still rules
Facebook is by far the most popular social networking site. No doubt about that. No one will be able to challenge Facebook for years, it seems. Twitter is growing faster but is still far behind.

Audience for selected Social Networking sites	September 10	September 11	Change
Facebook	25,361,000	39,022,000	54%
Twitter	3,980,000	8,568,000	115%
Tuenti	1,474,000	2,327,000	58%
Linkedin	944,000	2,210,000	134%

Source: Comscore (November 2011)

See press release by Comscore.

Men Engage in More Social Shopping Activities than Women

2011-11-06T13:25:00.001+01:00

Time and time again we hear that women love shopping - especially when the shopping experience involves social shopping activities like researching and sharing on social media sites like Facebook. I have even made several blog posts about it. Women still more frequently search for bargains, coupons and specials but a study from Performics shows that men actually do more social shopping activities than women.

Social shopping activities
Men do more frequently read reviews, research product information, find product availability, compare products and information about shops via social networks, shopping and bargain sites. As mentioned women are still more frequently searching for coupons, specials and bargains,.

Where men and women do social shopping activities

Social Media Site	Men	Women
Facebook	96%	97%
You Tube	54%	34%
Twitter	37%	24%
Google+	36%	24%
My Space	31%	20%
Linkedin	30%	16

Source: Performics (October 2011)

Share the shopping experience
Social media has become a part of the shopping experience. When searching for a product social networkers most often visit Amazon, eBay or brand websites to begin their shopping experience or right before they decide to a buy. Social networkers are more likely to use social media sites such as Facebook immediately after the purchase to share their shopping experience with their friends.

Social commerce in-store
Social shopping activities is not just done at home in front of the computer. It's also done in-store. The in-store shopping behaviour has changed dramatically. The in-store shopping experience is not limited to the shop anymore, it's also online.

In-store Activities	Percentages
Price searches in-store	62%
Checks-in on Social Media site	45%
Use a search engine on their mobile phone to look for information	41%
Wait between five and 10 minutes for advice on social sites before buying	41%
Use a barcode scanner on their mobile phone to shop for prices	30%
Pause in a shop before buying in order to seek advice on a social network	25%

Source: Performics (October 2011)

See press release by Performics or download statistics on Slideshare.

Apple iOS Is Now Bigger than Nokia Symbian

2011-10-30T12:04:00.002+01:00

Nokia's Symbian has for many years been the most popular operating system among smartphone users. Leaving Apple's iOS and Google's Android platform to struggle for second place. But not anymore. iOS has now a larger share, according to Comscore which has been looking into mobile and connected devices use in the five leading European markets (the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and Spain) during an average three month period ending in August 2011.

Adding iPhone, IPad and iPod Touch together
Symbian still has the largest share of the smartphone market. However, if we add all mobiles and connected devices including iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches together, iOS has the larger share with 30.5 per cent of all mobile and connected devices (excluding feature phones and e-readers). Symbian ranks second, accounting for 28.7 per cent followed by Google's Android platform as the third most popular operating system with 23.5 per cent.

OS Market Share by Audience Installed Base

3 Month average ending August 2011

Total mobile subscribers above age 13

Device platform	Share (%) of Devices in Use
Apple iOS	30.5%
Symbian	28.7%
Google Android	23.5%
RIM (BlackBerry)	8.1%
Microsoft	5.5%
Other platforms	3.5%

Source: Comscore MobilLens (October 2011)

Symbian is no longer no. 1 because it’s share of the market is driven only by Symbian smartphones. In comparison almost half of iOS' share comes iPads and iPod Touches. There doesn't seem to be so many tables using Android, or they are just used less frequently, because tablets account for only 16 per cent of the Android platform share.

See press release by Comscore.

E-commerce Is Gaining Ground in Scandinavia and the Nordic Countries

2011-10-09T11:10:00.001+02:00

It's a year ago I made the blog entry E-commerce in Scandinavia and the Nordic Countries and I think it's time for an update. As the last time, I use Posten's (the Nordic Post) survey about e-commerce in Scandinavia and the Nordic countries.

A brief summery. 1 in 4 citizens in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) is shopping online each month. Among the Nordic countries the Danes are most likely to click on the buy button. 1 in 3 (32%) Danes are shopping on the web each month.

Percentage of people who shop each month via distance

Country	S	DK	N	SF
	28%	32%	24%	10%

Source: Posten Norden (May 2011)

The Danes shop online because it's easy and they can hunt for bargains. The Danes are not as interested in a larger selection of products as their fellow Nordic citizen. The Danes expect a short delivery time, 1 in 3 (35%) demands that the product is delivered within in three days.

The online shopping Swedes are younger (15-29 years) than in the other Nordic countries. In Sweden people prefer to click on the buy button in shops situated in Sweden and to be invoiced.

The credit card is gaining ground on invoices among the internet shopping Norwegians. In Norway they are more patient and accept a delivery time of more than a week.

Finns are still the most hesitant online shoppers in the Nordic countries. They prefer to use bank transfer and are not using their credit card as often as their neighbours.

Men shop more online than women
In most surveys of this kind women are always crowned as kings of internet shopping. But not in Scandinavia and the Nordic countries.

Percentage who shop each month (gender)

Country	S	DK	N	SF
Men	30%	37%	27%	9%
Women	25%	26%	21%	9%

Source: Posten Norden (May 2011)

1 in 3 in the age groups 15-29 and 30-49 shop online each month. However, the most frequent shopper are Danish men in the age 30-49 where half (51%) claim they shop online each month.

Reasons for shopping online
Half the Nordic population shop online because it's easier and faster than shopping in the high street shops. The price is also an important factor. 1 in 5 thinks that a price is important. When shopping online consumers expect a larger selection of products.

Most important argument for shopping online (selected categories)

Country	S	DK	N	SF
It's cheaper	22%	30%	26%	12%
Better selection	22%	15%	25%	23%

Source: Posten Norden (May 2011)

Consumer electronics are hot - glasses are not
Clothes/apparel are most often put in the virtual shopping cart followed by consumer electronics. Newspapers and magazines, food, glasses and contact linses are seldom bought online.

Products people have ordered last year (top 3 and bottom 3)

Country	S	DK	N	SF
Clothes	50%	49%	44%	53%
Consumer electronics	33%	45%	36%	41%
Books	28%	18%	16%	22%
Newspapers and magazines	2%	3%	1%	5%
Food	1%	3%	2%	2%
Glasses and contact lenses	2%	0%	1%	2%

Source: Posten Norden (May 2011)

Almost half (49%) of the people living in the Nordic countries have bought clothes online in the last year.

Card or cash?
Over all the credit card is the most popular paying method but there are geographical differences. The Finns are least likely to use credit card and the Swedes like to be invoiced.

The most common payment methods

Country	S	DK	N	SF
Credit card	21%	80%	40%	14%
Invoice	41%	4%	24%	30%
Bank transfer	28%	10%	20%	39%
COD	8%	3%	12%	12%
Instalment agreement	1%	0%	0%	3%
Don't know	1%	3%	4%	2%

Source: Posten Norden (May 2011)

Get hold of E-handel i Norden 2011 (in Danish) by Posten.

Android Beats IOS and Apple in Europe

2011-09-18T09:04:00.000+02:00

The number of phones sold with the Android platform has increased dramatically in the last year. In July 2011, almost 1 in 4 smartphones in the five largest countries in Europe (Germany. France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) are running on the Google Android platform, Comscore reports.

Top Smartphone Platforms in the Five Largest European Countries by Share of Smartphone User

Platform	July 2010	July 2011	Difference
Symbian	53,9%	37,8%	-16,1%
Google	6,0%	22,3%	16,2%
Apple	19,0%	20,3%	1,2%
RIM	8,0%	9,4%	1,5%
Microsoft	11,5%	6,7%	-4,8%

Source: Comscore Mobilens (September 2011)

Symbian holding on to no. 1
Nokia's Symbian platform is still the most popular operating system for smartphones in Europe but not for long. In a year (from July 2010 to July 2011) the number of Symbian users has dropped with 16.1 per cent. The position at the top of the list will soon be overtaken by Android. Having recently replaced the Symbian platform with Microsoft Windows on Nokia's smartphones will not keep Nokia's smartphones at the top of the list. Windows has dropped almost 5 per cent (4.8) in the same period.

Producers using Android
HTC and Samsung have the highest market share among producers using Android in the five European countries with 34.6 and 31.7 per cent respectively, followed by Sony Ericsson with 18.8 per cent, LG with 3.4 per cent and Motorola with 2.8 per cent.

Top Mobile Producers for the Google Android Platform

Producers	UK	France	Germany	Italy	Spain
HTC	50,9%	21,8%	29,8%	24,8%	31,9%
Samsung	21,6%	42,3%	32,4%	35,6%	33,9%
Sony Ericsson	14,2%	17,4%	14,6%	8,3%	18,8%
LG	3,5%	7,8%	6,8%	10,1%	3,4%
Motorola	2,1%	3,0%	7,8%	2,4%	2,8%

Source: Comscore Mobilens (September 2011)

The UK is different from the rest of the four European countries. In the UK HTC is the leading producer with a 50.9 per cent market share with Samsung in second place with a 21.6 per cent market share. In the rest of the five countries Samsung is predominant. In France Samsung is the leading Android phone with a 42.3 per cent market share and more than a 30 per cent market share in Germany, Italy and Spain.

See the press release Android Captures #2 Ranking Among Smartphone Platforms in EU5 from Comscore.

Half of the Online Adults Have Shopped with Their Mobile Phone

2011-09-11T16:10:00.000+02:00

Half (51%) of the online adults* have shopped with their mobile phone, a survey by IBM reports. This indicates that our online customers are not just using their computer to shop online but also their phone - and they like it.

68% note that price comparison on the mobile is important or very important
38% say they want receive discount coupons
38% want to be able to review and change their shopping basket items later time, on their computer
29% say it is important to receive special offers on the mobile phone

Find more information in the press release IBM study finds social networks influence more than half of shoppers’ decision-making - even in the store.

*The survey including 4,000 adults in Great Britain, France, Germany and Italy who have access to the internet.

Less Than Half of the Europeans Shop Online

2011-09-04T13:19:00.000+02:00

Last year on average only 40 per cent of EU citizens purchased goods or services online, a study from EU reveals. A disappointingly low number. There is, however, large differences from country to country, with less than one in four individuals having made an online purchase in 11 Member States compared with more than half in 8 other Member States.

Internet purchases by individuals 2010 (% of all individuals)

Country	Percentage	Country	Percentage
Denmark	68%	UK	67%
Netherlands	67%	Sweden	66%
Luxembourg	60%	Finland	59%
Germany	59%	France	56%
Austria	42%	Malta	38%
Belgium	38%	Ireland	36%
Slovakia	33%	Poland	29%
Slovenia	27%	Czech Republic	27%
Spain	24%	Hungary	18%
Cyprus	18%	Latvia	17%
Estonia	17%	Portugal	15%
Italy	15%	Greece	12%
Lithuania	11%	Bulgaria	5%
Romania	4%

Source: Eurostat (September 2011)

E-commerce has doubled in five years
It's not all bad, fortunately. In the last five years the number of people who shop online has doubled from 20 per cent in 2005 to 40 per cent in 2010.

Online shopping in the domestic market
The Internet makes it possible to buy products and services from online shops in other countries but surprisingly few consumers do this. Last year 23 per cent of all those who made an online purchase did so from a seller based in another EU Member State. This, however, differ from country to country. In 19 Member States (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and United Kingdom) less than 50 per cent of online shoppers are purchasing goods or services from a shop in another country.

Find more information in the report Consumer behaviour in a digital environment by the European Parliament. Or get more numbers on the EU by Eurostat.

Only Half of Adult Americans Are Using Social Networking Sites

2011-08-28T13:19:00.011+02:00

You are on Facebook, you colleague is on Facebook; Everybody is on Facebook. Wrong. Only half of the adult Americans use social network sites, according to a survey by Pew Internet. This might seem like a catastrophic low number. There is, however, a silver ligning. Because 2 in 3 (65%) adult internet users are using a social networking site like Facebook, Linkedin, MySpace or equal. That’s a huge increase from 2008 where 29 per cent were using a social networking site. Back in 2005 only 8 per cent of internet user were surfing a social networking site.

Only e-mailing and searching are more popular
On a ordinary day 43 per cent of adult surfers use social networking. The only two activities which are more popular is e-mail used by 61 per cent and search engines used by 59 per cent.

It's woman's world
Women in the age of 18-29 are the most frequent users of social networking sites. 9 in 10 (89%) who are online have used a social media network site and 69 per cent use a social media site on an average day.

The percentage of adult internet users of each gender who use social networking sites

Year	Females	Males
2011	69%	60%
2010	67%	56%
2009	50%	42%
2008	30%	28%
2006	14%	18%
2005	6%	9%

Source: Pew Internet (August 2011)

And the young
If we are looking on age groups it's primarily young adults who are networking on the Internet. Social media network became popular five years ago. In 18 month, between February 2005 and August 2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet users increased from 9 per cent to 49 per cent. In the same period the use of social networking sites among the 30-49 year olds stod still. That has changed since then but the young adults are still dominating social networking sites.

The percentage of adult internet users in each age group who use social networking sites

Year	18-29	30-49	50-54	65+
2011	83%	70%	51%	33%
2010	86%	61%	47%	26%
2009	76%	48%	25%	13%
2008	67%	25%	11%	7%
2006	49%	8%	4%	1%
2005	9%	7%	6%	6%

Source: Pew Internet (August 2011)

However, grandmothers and grandfathers of all ages have adopted social networking online. In the last two years the use of social networking sites among internet users age 65 and older has grown 150 per cent. In the period the use of social networking sites by 50-64 year-old internet users has doubled.

Find more information in the survey 65% of online adults use social networking sites from Pew Internet.

The Mobile Phone Has Become A Necessity

2011-08-20T13:59:00.041+02:00

If you forget your wallet at home you don't go back for it; but you go back for your mobile/cell phone. The mobile/cell phone has become a necessity. A study made by Pew Internet shows that 83 per cent of Americans own a mobile phone. And they use it. Quite often.

Problems in Paradise
It is great that Americans use their mobile/cell phones this much. But not all is well in the Garden of Eden.16 per cent have difficulties reading on their phone because the screen is too small, and one in ten has difficulties entering a lot of text on their phone.

Texting is popular
Text messaging (sms) and taking pictures are the two most popular thing to do with your phone. Three in four mobile owners (73%) use their phones for both texting and picture taking. Other frequent activities are sending photos or videos, half (54%) of mobile phone owners do this and surfing on the Internet via the mobile phone is done by 44 per cent.

Smartphones
One third of American adults (35%) own a smartphone. And smartphone users use their phone more than ordinary mobile/cell phone users. Nine in ten smartphone owners are texting or taking pictures with their phones, while eight in ten use their phone to surf on the Internet or to send photos or videos.

Percentage of adult cell phone owners within each group who use their phones to do the following:

Activity	Mobile/cell phone owners	Smartphone owners
Texting	92%	59%
Take picture	92%	59%
Access the Internet	84%	15%
Send phone or video	80%	36%
E-mails	76%	10%
Download apps	69%	4%
Play a game	64%	14%
Play music	64%	12%
Record a video	59%	15%
Go to social network sites	59%	8%
Watch a video	54%	5%
Post a photo or video online	45%	5%
Do online banking	37%	5%
Participate in a video chat or call	13%	1%

Source: Pew Internet (August 2011)

Half the mobile/cell phone owners (51%) has used their mobile/cell phone at least once to get information they needed right here and now. One in four (27%) has experienced a situation in the previous month in which they had problems doing something because they didn't have their mobile/cell phone with them. This shows that we are becoming dependent on having our mobile/cell phone with us at all times, that's why we go back for it if we forget at home.

See Americans and their cell phones from Pew Internet.

The Number of Smartphone Users Visiting Retail Websites Has Increased by 80 Per Cent

2011-07-31T08:21:00.015+02:00

Can your website be accessed by mobile phone and smartphone users? If not, you might want to make it accessible or even make an m-commerce site. 13.5 million mobile users in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France visited a retail website from March to May this year, according to Comscore. This is equal to an 80 per cent increase over the past year. The UK has the largest growth with a 163-percent increase in smartphone users visiting a retail site.

Auction sites and shopping guides
Auction sites and shopping guides are also becoming increasing popular among mobile owners. 6.3 per cent of all mobile users in the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France visited an online auction site and 5.1 per cent also visited an online shopping guide from March to May 2011.

Among the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain and France, the UK had the highest penetration for auction sites, retail sites and shopping guides. One in ten mobile users in the UK (10.5 per cent) visited an auction site, 9.2 per cent visited a retail site and 5.7 per cent visited a shopping guide. The number of mobile users visiting a retail site grew by 118 per cent over the previous year, a number that is even more outspoken among smartphone users (up 163 per cent). The UK also had the highest increase for users visiting an auction site (up 95 per cent) and users visiting a shopping guide (up 71 per cent).

Mobile Retail Activity Among Total Mobile Subscribers

	UK	Germany	Italy	Spain	France
Visited auction site	10,5%	6,7%	6,0%	4,1%	3,6%
Visited retail site	9,2%	6,5%	5,7%	3,4%	3,4%
Visited shopping guide	5,7%	5,4%	6,6%	4,3%	3,4%

Source: Comscore (July 2011)

See the press release from Comscore.

UK Retailers Are Investing in E-commerce and M-commerce

2011-07-24T10:57:00.005+02:00

To have an e-commerce website and an m-commerce platform is high priority in the UK. Top 100 retailers' IT investment in e-commerce and m-commerce will grow from 17 per cent last year to 23 per cent in 2011, according to a report by Martec International and BT Expedite & Fresca.

Web sales are just as important
The reason for this growth in investment is that sales from websites are an area where retailers are experiencing growth. Web sales and sales from the high street store are slowly becoming just as important. Having increased significantly every other year, non-store sales as a percentage of the total remain
at 6.3 per cent.

M-commerce is a "must have"
M-commerce is here to stay and a platform any retailer must have. 16 % of top 100 retailers are already using an m-commerce platform. This is an increase of 5 per cent from last year. However, even more m-commerce platforms will see the day of light in the near future because 12 per cent intend to adopt an m-commerce platform.

IT investment priorities – Top 100 UK retailers

IT priority	Percentage of retailers
E-commerce/m-commerce	23%
Store systems	17%
PCI DSS compliance	8%
Supply chain	7%
Integration of systems	7%
Buying and merchandising	6%
Cost cutting	6%
Marketing CRM	5%
ERP	5%
Reporting/access to information	3%

Source: Martec International and BT Expedite & Fresca (July 2011)

Download Martec IT in Retail Summary Report 2011-12 by Martec International and BT Expedite & Fresca.

1 in 5 Internet Surfers Are Using Google Chrome

2011-07-17T12:59:00.008+02:00

The battle of Internet browsers has long been a fight between Internet Explorer and Firefox (and Safari for Mac users). Lately, Bing (Microsoft) and Chrome (Google) have joined the dojo.Well, Chrome has been around for a while and now it's really begining to be a browser we have to take into account when designing and testing our website og e-commerce sites.

Chrome up 32% this year
In June Chrome was responsible for 20.65% of the Internet traffic worldwide which is a huge increase from January where it had just 15.68%. A increase of 31.7%. While Chrome is gaining ground, Firefox is losing ground. Firefox had 28.34% of the traffic in June but 30.68% in the beginning of the year.

Top 5 Browsers from January to June 2011 (percentage)

Browser	January	February	March	April	May	June
Internet Explorer	46,0	45,4	45,1	44,5	43,9	43,6
Firefox	30,7	30,4	29,9	29,7	29,3	28,3
Chrome	15,7	16,5	17,37	18,3	19,4	20,7
Safari	5,09	5,08	5,02	5,04	5,01	5,07
Other	2,6	2,6	2,5	2,48	2,5	2,4

Source: Statcounter (July 2011)

Bing, however, is showing in the statistics. It's growing, as I mentioned earlier, but worldwide we are still waiting for the big breakhtrough.

Get more statistics on Statcounter.