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HITWISE PROPERTY AND RETAIL UPDATE
House and Garden retailers booming despite falling house prices
London, 11 September 2008 - Hitwise, the leading online competitive intelligence service and an Experian company, today reveals that UK Internet visits to House and Garden retail websites have increased by 20.5% over the last 12 months despite the credit crunch and falling house prices. At the same time, UK Internet visits to estate agents and property websites have fallen by 35.2%.
House and Garden retailers overtake estate agents online
A recent report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed that, on average, UK estate agents are now selling an average of just one property a week, and this decline is reflected online. The credit crunch has hit online estate agents hard: in August 2007, websites in Hitwise's Business and Finance -Property category accounted for 0.85% of all UK Internet visits, but last month (August 2008) this figure fell to 0.55%. Falling demand for houses is mirrored by consumer search behaviour, with UK Internet searches for "houses for sale" down 53.1% between August 2007 and August 2008.
At the same time, the share of UK Internet visits to websites in Hitwise's Shopping and Classifieds - House and Garden category increased from 0.49% in August 2007 to 0.59% in August 2008, overtaking the Business and Finance -Property category on the way.
Robin Goad, Director of Research at Hitwise, commented: "It looks as if people are choosing to improve their existing houses rather than move. The interesting thing about the growth in House and Garden retailers is that it applies both to DIY retailers, such as B&Q, Screwfix and Homebase, and furniture retailers such as Ikea, Laura Ashley and Wilkinson Plus. Both types of retailer have increased their share of Internet visits over the last 12 months."
"How to" DIY queries increase 25%
One of the factors behind the success of House and Garden retailers online has been the increase in online DIY queries, as UK consumers look to improve their accommodation on a budget. UK Internet searches for the top 10 DIY-related "how to" queries have increased by 25% over the last 12 months. In August 2008 the top DIY search was "how to plaster", followed by "how to lay decking" and "how to wallpaper".
Top 10 "how to" DIY searches in UK, August 2008:
1. how to plaster
2. how to lay decking
3. how to wallpaper
4. how to hang a door
5. how to lay a patio
6. how to lay laminate flooring
7. how to hang wallpaper
8. how to make curtains
9. how to make a canopy porch
10. how to tile a bathroom
UK Internet Traffic to Property and House & Garden websites, Aug 07 - Aug 08
About Hitwise
Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Only Hitwise provides its 1,500 clients around the world with daily insights on how their customers interact with a broad range of competitive websites, and how their competitors use different tactics to attract online customers.
Since 1997, Hitwise has pioneered a unique, network-based approach to Internet measurement. Through relationships with ISPs around the world, Hitwise's patented methodology anonymously captures the online usage, search and conversion behaviour of 25 million Internet users. This unprecedented volume of Internet usage data is seamlessly integrated into an easy to use, web-based service, designed to help marketers better plan, implement and report on a range of online marketing programs.
Hitwise, a subsidiary of Experian (FTS: EXPN) www.experiangroup.com operates in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore. More information about Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.
For up-to-date-analysis of online trends, please visit the Hitwise Intelligence-Analyst Weblogs at http://weblogs.hitwise.com and the Hitwise Data Center at www.hitwise.com/datacenter.
For media enquiries, please contact: robin.goad@hitwise.com, tel: 07956 514 205
About Experian
Experian is a global leader in providing information, analytical and marketing services to organisations and consumers to help manage the risk and reward of commercial and financial decisions.
Combining its unique information tools and deep understanding of individuals, markets and economies, Experian partners with organisations around the world to establish and strengthen customer relationships and provide their businesses with competitive advantage.
For consumers, Experian delivers critical information that enables them to make financial and purchasing decisions with greater control and confidence. Clients include organisations from financial services, retail and catalogue, telecommunications, utilities, media, insurance, automotive, leisure, e-commerce, manufacturing, property and government sectors.
Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Experian has corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland and has operational headquarters in Costa Mesa, California and Nottingham, UK. The Group employs approximately 15,500 people in 38 countries worldwide, supporting clients in over 65 countries around the world. Continuing sales for the year ended 31 March 2008 were $4,059m (£2,020m).
For more information, visit www.experiangroup.com.