European Brands Have Room to Improve Loyalty
A study of customer loyalty among European online retailers by Jupiter MMXI found a correlation between a large reach for a site and high retention rates.
A study of customer loyalty among European online retailers by Jupiter MMXI found a correlation between a large reach for a site and high retention rates.
A study of customer loyalty among European online retailers by Jupiter MMXI found a correlation between a large reach for a site and high retention rates.
Jupiter MMXI tracked unique visitors to a Web site in November 2001 and then followed them for three months from December 2001 to February 2002 to see how many returned to the retail sites they visited in November each month.
The study found that German retail sites retained more unique visitors than elsewhere in Europe. Italy and Switzerland had the lowest rates.
Not surprisingly, Amazon, the leading online retail brand across Europe, performed well in every market Jupiter MMXI examined. In February 2002, Amazon Web sites held the top positions in the retail category in all six countries studied. Switzerland had the lowest Amazon retention rate with 28 percent of November customers coming back in February. Britain has the highest Amazon retention rate at 40 percent. The exception appears to be France, where CDiscount.com had the highest retention rate at 53 percent while Rueducommerce.fr sported a retention rate of 52 percent.
In Britain, Tesco.com’s retention rate was 34.5 percent. But other popular British offline brands aren’t doing as well, retaining only 12 to 16 percent of their November shoppers over three months.
“It is much more expensive to find new customers than to retain existing ones, and the same is true of Web sites with their visitors,” said Staffan Engdegard, advertising and marketing analyst for Jupiter MMXI. “Web site owners need to analyze where and why they are losing their visitors in order to address the issue. This kind of analysis of their customer retention at such a crucial time of the year can help sites improve customer loyalty.”
Top Retail Sites in Britain and Europe (at-home users) |
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Britain | Europe | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | Retailer | Unique Visitors (000) |
Reach % | Rank | Retailer | Unique Visitors (000) |
Reach % |
1. | amazon.co.uk | 2,685 | 16.6% | 1. | amazon.de | 4,432 | 6.7% |
2. | amazon.com | 1,269 | 7.9% | 2. | amazon.com | 3,415 | 5.2% |
3. | tesco.com | 1,074 | 6.6% | 3. | amazon.co.uk | 2,985 | 4.5% |
4. | argos.co.uk | 755 | 4.7% | 4. | amazon.fr | 1,536 | 2.3% |
5. | comet.co.uk | 439 | 2.7% | 5. | tesco.com | 1,074 | 1.6% |
6. | johnlewis.com | 379 | 2.3% | 6. | fnac.com | 971 | 1.5% |
7. | ticketmaster.co.uk | 369 | 2.3% | 7. | quelle.de | 945 | 1.4% |
8. | savapoint.com | 368 | 2.3% | 8. | tchibo.de | 935 | 1.4% |
9. | kelkoo.com | 353 | 2.2% | 9. | kelkoo.com | 927 | 1.4% |
10. | bol.com | 350 | 2.2% | 10. | otto.de | 896 | 1.4% |
Source: Jupiter MMXI |