Cyber Monday 2013 Named Busiest Ever Online Shopping Day

Experian’s latest report into the state of online shopping on Cyber Monday, which revealed that 2nd December was the busiest-ever for Internet retailers in the UK.

The Internet witnessed an impressive 115 million visits to retail websites on Cyber Monday – 2.5% more than the number scored on Boxing Day last year, which was the former record breaker for the busiest-ever shopping day. The visits counted were also 3% higher compared to Cyber Monday 2012.

Data from the market researcher’s online competitive intelligence tool also points to a new high in relation to the amount of time Britons spent buying items online in a day. They stayed a combined 15.3 million hours on retail sites, with the average shopper spending eight minutes on a typical site visit.

Department stores enjoyed the strongest pick-up in visits, which were 4% higher over the preceding Monday (25 November). Apparel sites recorded an increase of 5% in activity, while interest in video games was 17% stronger.

Experian also tracked online shopping activity on Black Friday, which this year fell on 29 November. There was solid growth in visits on this day as well, growing by 19% compared to 2012 and reaching 113 million. The craze for Black Friday deals was reflected in search as well, with one in every 550 queries made during the week to 30 November including the words “Black Friday,” which was 355% more than in 2012.