Daily Discount Websites Show 1,000 per cent Growth

Daily discount websites show 1,000 per cent growth

Online search volume winners announced at the annual Experian Hitwise Awards

SYDNEY, 26 May 2011 – Australians with a nose for a bargain increased their share of visits to popular ‘daily deals’ websites by over 1000 per cent in the past twelve months, according to new figures released by Experian Hitwise .This huge surge in traffic has been boosted by longer browsing times, with the average time spent on these websites increasing by 153 per cent in the past 12 months.

Australian businesses have been quick to jump onto the collective buying model with some of the most recent entrants – Stardeals and Cudo – being backed by leading global brands Groupon and PBL/Microsoft, respectively. These new players have been more successful than others, and notably Stardeals, established in February this year, has steadily increased its market share and is now ranked number one in the custom category of daily deal websites.

The graph below tracks the top five Australian daily coupon websites by web traffic volume over 12 months

New data released by Experian shows the entire Shopping & Classifieds category has increased by 9.11 per cent from 22 May 2010 to 21 May 2011.

“The explosion in web traffic to daily coupon websites shows Australians are quick to trust and adopt new online channels, in order to get a bargain,” said Matt Glasner, General Manager, Experian Marketing Services.

“Our research shows that Australians initially found these websites through social media sites like Facebook, but are now visiting them through search engines like Google. This means what are in effect new brands – including Stardeals and Cudo - have very quickly become household names that Australians search for directly.

“A key challenge for retailers in 2011 will be how to adapt to this change in consumer behaviour and deliver their products or services at a price point which is in line with the expectations of online value shoppers.”

Experian Hitwise research shows other key findings*:

• Traffic to coupon websites through email has seen the greatest growth with an 87.5 per cent increase in the amount of traffic going from email services to group buying sites over the last 12 months. This means websites are signing up new members regularly, and these same members are visiting the websites frequently due to daily coupon emails delivered to their inbox
• The major web traffic drivers for the daily coupon websites are currently search engines (15.32 per cent), social networking (13.68 per cent) and email (10.35 per cent). Social networking was previously the major driver of traffic for the past 12 months with Search only overtaking it in April 2011
• Over 55’s are under-represented by only two per cent – which indicates silver surfers are keeping up with the latest online shopping trends
• 25-34 year olds are the only group that is over-represented – by 18 per cent
• Females are 7.2 per cent more likely to visit coupon websites indicating their love for time-limited impulse purchases

*Shopping and Classifieds category by share of visits

Experian Hitwise Online Performance Awards 2011

The highest web traffic volumes in 18 categories were announced at the Annual Experian Hitwise Online Performance Awards. Leaders in each category are listed below.

- Ends -

For further information and interviews or statistics please contact:

Callum Bruford
n2n communications
02 9213 2333 / 0420 432 118
cbruford@n2n.com.au

Georgia Lennon
Marketing Director
Experian
+612 8907 7218
georgia.lennon@au.experian.com

About Experian
Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients in more than 80 countries. The company helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making. Experian also helps individuals to check their credit report and credit score, and protect against identity theft.

Experian plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange (EXPN) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index. Total revenue for the year ended 31 March 2011 was US$4.2 billion. Experian employs approximately 15,000 people in 41 countries and has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with operational headquarters in Nottingham, UK; California, US; and São Paulo, Brazil.

For more information, visit http://www.experianplc.com.

About Experian Hitwise http://www.hitwise.com/au
Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Experian Hitwise gives marketers a competitive advantage by providing daily insights on how 25 million Internet users around the world interact with more than 1 million websites. This external view helps companies grow and protect their businesses by identifying threats and opportunities as they develop. Experian Hitwise has more than 1,500 clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, media, travel and retail.

Experian Hitwise (FTS:EXPN), www.experianplc.com, operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada and Brazil. More information about Experian Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com.au.