‘Middle Cyber Monday’ eclipses ‘Cyber Monday’ as biggest UK shopping day ever seen

UK consumers make 120 million visits to online retail sites in a single day

Visits up by 3.6 per cent compared to Cyber Monday

London, 10 December 2013 – Experian, the global information services company, has today revealed that for the first time ever the second Monday of December (9 December 2013), coined “Middle Cyber Monday”, was the biggest online shopping day of the year, eclipsing Cyber Monday (2 December 2013), the previous record holder.

Data from Experian Hitwise, the online competitive intelligence tool, shows that British Internet users made 120 million visits to retail websites on Monday 9 December, representing a 10.5 per cent increase year-on-year from Monday 10 December 2012. This is a 3.6 per cent increase compared to last week’s record breaking Cyber Monday which saw 115 million visits on 2 December 2013 alone.

Additional data points include:

• UK consumers spent more time than ever before shopping online on Middle Cyber Monday, spending 16 million hours on retail sites compared to 15.3 million hours on Cyber Monday 2013
• On average, consumers spent eight minutes per site visit on Monday 9 December, equaling Cyber Monday 2013
• A new trend is emerging with festive shopping spreading out across December, instead of peaking at the start of the month as previously seen
• Thursdays and Fridays, traditionally poor performers for online retail are experiencing substantial growth for the first time

As people shop later and later into December, Experian is predicting further peaks on Christmas Eve, with Boxing Day still on track to smash records as the biggest online retail day ever witnessed.

James Murray, Digital Insight Manager for Experian Marketing Services commented:

“This is the first time that the second Monday of December (Middle Cyber Monday) has eclipsed the first Monday of December (Cyber Monday) in terms of online visits. This represents a dynamic shift in consumer behaviour and is disrupting the shopping trends that we have been observing for the last five years.”

“As retailers get better at delivering before Christmas, the imperative to order online early is diminishing. With shopping becoming easier on the go, savvy consumers are also increasingly using the internet on mobile devices to browse, compare and shop where, when and how they want. To make the most of these changing consumer shopping habits retailers need to ensure that they are engaging with customers in a consistent, meaningful and relevant way across all channels. ”

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