Shopping Traffic Shoots Up 36% While Conversions Climb More Slowly

This week’s Marketing Land Online Retail Sales Report shows traffic to ecommerce sites taking a significant jump, but shoppers seem to still be in research mode, as conversions aren’t going up quite as quickly.

The report is based on data from HookLogic, a company which gathers data on online retail transactions through the advertising network it runs, allowing brands to run ads on major retailer websites.

Compared to the benchmark week of September 29, traffic to ecommerce sites was up 61%, as consumers look for ideas, compile their holiday gift shopping lists, and perhaps perform some price comparisons. Traffic was up 36% as compared to the prior week, indicating activity is seriously heating up.

Conversion rates, on average, were up just 5% from the prior week, as more browsers continue to convert to buyers. Compared to the benchmark week, they were up 19%.

HookLogic analysts believe the trends indicate that consumers are conducting significant research early in the shopping season, but waiting for pre-Thanksgiving and Cyber Week deals to emerge before taking the purchase plunge — hoping to secure better pricing or perks.

Marketing Land will be publishing retail data, in partnership with HookLogic, throughout the 2014 holiday shopping season.