European women spend more time than men on online retail sites in categories from department stores to fashion and food, according to new data from ComScore.
The study analysed by category the amount of time women from 18 European countries spent on websites in May 2012. It found that five of the top 10 sites visited by more women than men were retail sites. The retail category most likely to be dominated by female visitors was fragrance and cosmetics retail. There women accounted for 70.9% of the total time spent on this category of site. The average visit to this category lasted for 13.5 minutes. Next came apparel retail websites, with female visits accounting for 66.8% of the total time spent in this category. The average visitor spent 30.6 minutes on this category of site.
Department store retail sites (64.9% women, 14.3 minute average visit), food retail sites (61.2% women, 15.6 minutes average visit), and mall retail sites (61.0%, 13.5 minutes) made up the rest of the list.
The figures, said ComScore, showcased “the gender’s penchant for online shopping in comparison to their male counterparts.”
The study also mapped the internet use by country for the month. It found the Russian market was the largest, with 57.9m users going online in May. The UK audience of 37.6m online users was the most engaged, with users spending an average of 39.1 hours online. That’s five per cent up on the previous month.
Top categories for female online visitors in May 2012
Source: ComScore
Retail: fragrances/cosmetics
Community: beauty/fashion/style
Retail: apparel
Retail: department store
Community: pets
Services: e-cards
Health: information
Community: food
Retail: food
Retail: mall
