Hitwise Intelligence - Sandra Hanchard - Asia Pacific

Searches for Property for Sale and Credit Cards attract strong growth in NZ

2010-05-17T08:29:19Z

Following on from my post on Singapore financial search trends, we also looked at New Zealand queries to provide a reflection of economic conditions. We similarly found in NZ during Q1 2010 a rising trend for users to research a range of financial topics, including searching for properties to buy and rent, mortgages, credit cards, loans and savings.

* Property for sale searches (eg. ‘houses for sale’, ‘houses for sale auckland, ‘property for sale’) increased by 195.1% in the first quarter of the year compared to Q1 2009, and 53.4% up on Q42009.
* New Zealand locations that attracted significant year on year growth in property for sale searches included Auckland, Ashburton, Christchurch and Masterton, Rodney District and One Tree Hill.
* Searches for mortgages were down on last year by 7.3%, though have shown recovery with an 23.5% increase through Q1 since Q4 2009.

* Property for rent searches (eg. Variations of ‘houses for rent’, ‘holiday homes for rent’, ‘properties for rent’) increased by 130.5% in the first quarter of the year compared to Q1 2009 and 66.5% over the quarter.
*Trade Me homes for rent’ was the fastest moving rental search term year on year, highlighting the strength of the auction site outside of retail. Fast moving locations for rentals included, Auckland, Manurewa, Oamaru, as well as overseas interest in Melbourne.

*Searches for loans increased steadily by 48.8% year on year, and 31.5% over the quarter. Student loan queries dominated the top loan searches, accounting for 4 out of the top 10.

*Searches for credit cards increased by 150.1% over the year compared to Q12009.
* Driven by branded search, with ‘global plus credit card’, the most searched for credit card term, experiencing 26.9% more searches than last March. Other leading branded terms in order of popularity included, ‘kiwibank credit card’, ‘bnz credit cards’, ‘warehouse credit card’, ‘bnz credit card’, and ‘asb credit card’.
*Searches for ‘credit card balance transfer’, ‘low interest credit card’, ‘credit card fees’, were prominent generic searches as consumers tried to transfer and manage their debts.

*Searches for savings increased by 85.3% over the year, and increased by 47.5% over the quarter as consumers remained fiscally cautious.

Property searches attracting the highest growth amongst finance queries in Singapore

2010-05-14T02:42:03Z

Recently we analysed the online financial behaviour of Singapore Internet users, and found an increase during the first quarter of 2010 in search queries around financial needs, including searching for properties to buy and to rent, mortgages, loans, savings and credit cards.

In particular we found strong growth in property searches for sale and rent in Singapore reflecting high property demand and price growth. Interest in the stock market, reflected by search behaviour, cooled in comparison to the property market.

Here were our financial search portfolios comparing Q1 of 2010 to the same time last year:

Source: Experian Hitwise

* Property for sale searches (eg. ‘properties for sale in singapore’, ‘house for sale in singapore’) increased by 407% in the first quarter of the year compared to Q1 2009, 183.1% up on Q42009.
* A peak in property for sale searches in early March 2010 reflects expected new price highs in 2010.
* Searches for mortgages were up by 164.8% year on year, and increased 14% over the quarter.
* Property for rent searches (eg. Variations of ‘houses for rent in singapore’, ‘property for rent in singapore’) increased by 428.2% in the first quarter of the year compared to Q1 2009 and 51.5% over the quarter.
* Searches for loans increased by 239.1% year on year, and increased 68.2% over the quarterly. ‘Personal loan’ and ‘housing loan’ were the two most popular search terms.

* Credit Card searches increased by 225% over the year compared to Q12009.
* Branded credit card search terms dominated the leading queries, including, ‘citibank credit card’, ‘uob credit card, ‘ocbc credit card’, ‘dbs credit card’ and ‘hsbc credit card’.
* Searches for credit card promotions were amongst the top queries, such as ‘uob credit card promotion’, as Singapore consumers shopped around for the best deals.

* Searches for savings increased by 267.3% over the year, and increased by 39.5% over the quarter, indicating that Singaporeans remained cautious overall about their finances.
* Stocks, Shares and Bonds related queries were up 40.7% year on year, but down 16.9% as the property market gained the interest of investors.

Singapore: Social Networks continue to trump Search Engines

2010-04-29T08:39:28Z

Having recently re-located to KL, Malaysia, I thought it timely to provide an update on the nearest market we’re tracking here, Singapore. Unsurprisingly, Social Networking and Forums was the most popular online industry visited by Singapore Internet users in March 2010. What’s of interest is that this has consistently been the case since September 2007. Contrast that to Australia, where Social Networking and Forums overtook Search Engines for monthly visits only during March this year. Visits to Social Networking websites by Singaporeans is therefore a deeply embedded component of Internet usage and has been for a decent amount of time.

Singaporean Internet use is dominated overall by web-based activities (i.e. navigation, communication, and publishing) reflected by the prominence of Search Engines, Portal FrontPages, Email Services and Blogs. Stocks and Shares was the only ‘commercial’ sector amongst the top 10 industries. Multimedia, Games, Software and Reference sites were also amongst the top 10, highlighting a strong learning-orientation to web use.

While Social Networking and Forums has been dominant for some time, it is still growing at a strong rate, moving 2.74 percentage points, or 24% year on year (see below table). Travel sectors have also been growing strongly, including Maps (27%), Transport (13%) and Commercial Airlines (20%). The debut of Google Maps Singapore in November 2009 significantly contributed to growth in Travel – Maps visits, while in the Airlines sector, visits to Tiger Airways, Jetstar Airways and Air Asia all grew by 29.5%, 10.7% and 17% respectively.

Facebook’s phenomenal global growth has not left Singapore untouched, attracting the highest growth in visits amongst all websites. Twitter notably was amongst the top 10 fast moving websites, growing at a faster rate than its predecssor, Plurk. Amongst Singaporean websites, inSing.com, a lifestyle, entertainment, business and shopping channel, grew at the fastest rate, debuting in April 2009. Both Google Singapore and Bing notably gained strong traction.

While it’s illustrative to gain an overall sense of fast moving industries and websites, I’ll be spending more time over the coming months examining a range of commercial and lifestyle industries in more detail in Singapore and Hong Kong. Feel free to post any topic requests in the comments section.

Where now for Bebo users in NZ?

2010-04-09T00:51:44Z

I used to keep in touch with a lot of in family in NZ through Bebo, but over the last few months or so, have noticed Facebook being used more frequently instead. So when I read about AOL’s decision to either sell or shut down Bebo, coupled with some of our own stats on declining visits to Bebo, I was not surprised.

Bebo attracted 2.16% of visits to Social Networking and Forums websites in New Zealand during March 2010, and still ranks as the third most popular website in this category (behind Facebook and YouTube). Bebo declined significantly in visits by 67% compared to the same month last year. Facebook in contrast grew by 57% year-on-year, and attracted 21.4x more visits than Bebo in March 2010.

Bebo was the most popular Social Network in New Zealand until May 2008 when Facebook briefly took over; Facebook then went on to gain rapid momentum against all websites from late November 2008 onwards. This was later than in some markets, such as the UK (see Robin's post).

What are the demographics of Bebo in NZ?

Bebo has traditionally attracted a strong online following from our Mosaic Lifestyle segment, "Cultural Ties" which has high proportions of Maori and Pacific Islanders, and continues to be over-represented in this audience. Facebook with its rapid expansion has enjoyed a migration of users from this segment, and has widened its audience base overall.

Social Networks in general in New Zealand attract an over-representation in visits from lower affluent Mosaic Groups, including "Working Fringe", families with stretched budgets in outer suburbs, and "Family Growth", young families living in cities, which may be one issue that will affect continued efforts in monetisation of Social Networks.

In contrast, Mosaic Group, "Urban Intelligence", comprised of affluent and tech-savvy households, has concentrated usage on Entertainment and Lifestyle websites focused on offline activities, such as Nightlife, Performing Arts and Restaurants. This may be a reflection of greater disposable spend in this consumer segment.

Migration to Facebook and other Social Networks

Looking at the websites where new visitors go after Bebo throws up little surprises – Facebook and YouTube attracted the highest volume of clicks in March 2010. Interestingly, Twitter attracted a much higher new visitor rate at 44%, suggesting that it is still a novelty for some Internet users in New Zealand.

For the meantime, Facebook offers a good home for Bebo users, who have brought their friends with them and thus kept their network base; the fickleness of users on Social Networks should however be remembered by Facebook, as it is strives to maintain the attention span of users through continued innovation.

YouTube and Twitter are also prominent social media websites in New Zealand and have taken some market share as a result of Bebo’s decline. They both however offer a very different user experience to Facebook and do not appear to pose an immediate threat. As usual, we'll be keeping an eye on the competitive Social Networking space for any new up and comers.

Gen Ys most loyal shoppers to Appliances and Electronics sites

2010-03-22T07:06:32Z

Earlier this month, Commonwealth Bank in conjunction with the University of Canberra launched Viewpoint - a report on the economic vitality of Australia. The report found that Gen Ys' spending habits were surprisingly resilient to the Global Financial Crisis - “Gen Y’s spending increased 6.2 per cent in 2009, despite earnings growing only 2.5 per cent and job losses in the age group rising 13.6 per cent.”

This insight corresponds broadly to a finding from our recent study on the “New vs. Returning” visitors to Shopping and Classifieds – Appliances and Electronics websites in the lead up to Christmas last year. Interestingly, 18-24 year olds were 44% more likely than the online average to be returning visitors to Appliances and Electronics websites in November 2009. Even though Gen Ys were amongst the hardest hit group by economic pressures, they were still the most engaged online researchers in one of the most popular online retail categories last year.

In comparison, users over 55 were the least likely to return to Appliances and Electronics websites. Given that 55+ users have high purchasing power, and are becoming a larger segment with Australia’s ageing population, retailers should be stepping up their efforts to market to this group and create compelling content that invites repeat visits.

We also looked at the broader Lifestyle Mosaic Groups and found that “Learners and Earners (students) and “Pushing the Boundaries” (young families) were the two household groups most likely to have repeat visits to Appliances and Electronics sites in November 2009. The strength of repeat visits by young families, in addition to students, suggests that households with tight disposable incomes may also be engaging in higher than usual comparison shopping activity.

Department Stores fastest growing retail sector online in NZ

2010-03-19T00:25:02Z

Visits to Shopping and Classifieds – Department Stores websites grew by 55.6% year on year in February 2010 compared to all categories by New Zealand Internet users. Department Stores websites have attracted strong interest from shoppers since December 2009, when visits reached an all-time high.

NZ Visits to Department Stores Websites, Feb 09 to Feb 10

Amazon.com was the leading Department Stores website in December 2009 with 28.3% share of visits. Local brand, The Warehouse – New Zealand, ranked at second position, also held significant share with 21.9% of visits. Quick deals websites are also helping fuel growth to the online Department Stores sector, with 3 Deals, Dealaday, Snatchadeal and 6 Shooter all amongst the top 10. Other leading bricks and mortar brands included Farmers and Kmart New Zealand, while NZ Herald Shopping debuted at #10.

The prominence of discount players amongst the leading Department Stores websites is reflected by an audience swing to mostly middle-class and low-income groups. The top 4 Mosaic Lifestyle Groups over-represented in Department Stores visits included:

· “Grey Power” - retirees residing in coastal resorts, large towns and provincial cities.

· “Provincial Pride” – traditional households in provincial towns.

· “Suburban Comfort” - wealthy areas of educated professionals, family households.

· “Working Fringe” - mixed families with stretched budgets in outer suburbs.

Other consumer retail sectors in New Zealand that have enjoyed strong growth include Apparel and Accessories, Grocery and Alcohol and Video and Games.

Housing Bubble Searches in Australia at all time high

2010-03-11T05:23:01Z

Housing affordability in Australia is currently a hot issue with a recent rise in interest rates, an end to the first home buyers’ grant, and subsequent slowed lending. Despite this, pressure on house prices remains high with a fast growing population and a shortfall in housing development.

There is potentially an element of desperation amongst home buyers and this is reflected in their search behaviour. Search traffic around the term ‘housing bubble’ was at its highest point during the week ending 6 March 2010:

Property websites have attracted strong growth in visits year-on-year from two very different Mosaic Lifestyle groups - “Community Disconnect” and “Privileged Prosperity”.

“Community Disconnect” households are best described as ‘Older blue-collar workers and retirees in country and coastal locations’. Much of the visit growth was from the Mosaic sub-segment “Fractured Families” - Disadvantaged singles living in inexpensive accommodation. Their strong interest in property websites could be reflecting pressures on finding rentals amidst stock shortages.

“Privileged Prosperity”, the wealthiest segment online, was the second highest household type to increase visits to Property websites over the year. The prominence of this group is indicative of property interest by the investor community.

I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on other changes to search behaviours we’re likely to see from Australian home buyers this year.

Bushfires 2010 Online: What did we learn from last time?

2010-02-22T22:09:07Z

Last year I wrote about the online response to the Victorian bushfires and how Australians used the Internet to find out important information about this devastating crisis. In this post, I want to explore if there has been any ‘learned behaviour’ in the community about being prepared for environmental disasters as reflected in their search patterns.

The below chart appears to indicate that online users were quick to react online to the event last year, but the volume of searches around ‘bushfires’ this year is relatively small in comparison.

It is encouraging however to see in the chart below, that the types of searches around bushfires that I covered last year, namely, Appeal, Education, General, Informational, Services have had various ebbs and flows - most likely in response to some of the offline campaigns that have been run by the various state authorities. There has been some prominence around ‘education’ related searches in the past few weeks, indicating some desire by users to be equipped with knowledge about bushfire safety.

Who is being strategic about online crisis management?

Our data can also illustrate the types of websites that are receiving traffic on bushfires, to help determine which organisations are being effective in getting online community traction. The NSW Rural Fire Service received the most traffic on ‘bushfires’ for the past 12 weeks, reflected in the table below:

Other government groups are using tactics such as pay-per-click to get traffic (accounting for 2.5% of clicks from ‘bushfires’ searches), resulting in their appearance amongst the top websites.

For government and community organisations, both short-term tactics should be used to meet immediate information needs (e.g. PPC and Display), while long-term campaigns (e.g. SEO and Social Media) should be used to mitigate complacency and instigate cultural change around bushfire awareness in Australia.

iPad – which Aussie telco has the best audience fit with Apple?

2010-02-02T01:21:59Z

Last week Alan and Robin wrote about the hype leading up to the announcement of the Apple iPad. In Australia, major telcos are well aware of consumers' interest in the iPad, and are keen to replicate the success of the release of the iPhone in 2008. When the iPhone was launched in Australia, I noted how the initial interest in apps for the iPhone quickly transferred to the local carriers and their pricing plans.

A key tactic for telcos seeking to benefit from the Australian iPad launch will be to tap into Apple’s audience base. To understand which player is currently best placed to do this, I ran a report on telco websites that attracted a similar Lifestyle Mosaic profile to Apple Australia over the past 12 weeks. Vodafone Australia had the closest matching Mosaic audience to Apple Australia, with both websites highly-represented amongst affluent, tech-savvy households.

How can telcos target Apple users?

Social Networking and Forums can be an effective channel for creating viral buzz around a product or brand. Using the same principle above, I ran a report of the Social Networking and Forums websites that attracted a similar audience to Apple Australia over the past 12 weeks, which revealed some niche advertising opportunities:

It is no surprise to see popular tech-oriented websites in there, such as Mac Forums, digg and Whirpool. One surprise was fashion website, Vogue Australia Forums – but this serves as a good reminder to telcos they should be actively targeting a female demographic, with commentators noting that future prospects for the e-reader market are more likely to be female.

Another key tactic for telcos and retailers will be to get interested consumers pre-registered as quickly as possible. I noticed last week DickSmith linking a Twitter alert on the iPad to an email registration form – a great way to keep prospects engaged through to the point of sale.

2009 Year of the Status Update: Spending more time on fewer sites

2009-12-23T22:10:13Z

To wrap up my blog for this year, I thought I’d look at how Australian Internet users divide their time online. This is a pertinent question as marketers battle it out for the precious attention span of consumers on what is now considered a mainstream channel.

The below table compares the average session time for each Experian Hitwise parent industry during November 2009 and November 2008.

Overall Australian are spending a longer amount of time online during each session, with the average visit time 11 minutes 30 seconds in November 2009, compared to 11 minutes 7 seconds in November 2008. This might seem like a marginal difference but what’s interesting is the spread in time spent online. There were only three parent industries which increased their average session duration over the year, namely, Computers and Internet, Shopping and Classifieds and Adult.

Computers and Internet websites attracted the greatest increase in average visit time over the year, with the sub-industry, Social Networking and Forums accounting for the longest amount of time. The average session duration to Social Networking and Forums was 20 minutes 43 seconds in November 2009, compared to 19 minutes 12 seconds in November 2008. Australians also spent a longer amount of time on Email Services, Portal Frontpages and Search Engines.

Greater concentration in visits to top sites

At the same time, we’re also seeing a greater concentration in visits to the top 10 websites, which unsurprisingly all fall under the Computers and Internet parent category. The top 10 websites accounted for 29% share of visits in November 2009, compared to 26.3% share of visits in November 2008. In other words, the ‘big’ players are getting bigger.

What we need to consider now is that users are doing more within each ‘web business’ ecosystem. There’s a lot of anecdotal commentary that ‘status updates’ are a popular form of user activity (and we can tackle the Hitwise evidence for this in a future post). The key point is that we’re spending more time engaging with more fragmented information, which also belies the phenomenal growth of Twitter.

So if I had one standout message for marketers in 2010: ‘Brevity’ and ‘Relevancy’ of communications will be the earmarks of success for engaging with the 24/7 connected consumer. Thanks for reading, and see you all next year!

More last-minute Christmas shopping this year

2009-12-22T21:53:37Z

Visits to Shopping and Classifieds websites in Australia this year have been slower overall than in 2008. A key factor has been the fallout from the global financial crisis with consumers overall more cautious in their spending habits. As a result, we’ve noticed more last-minute shopping, with daily visits to Shopping and Classifieds websites prior to Christmas peaking later this year than in 2008:

·The peak day for Shopping and Classifieds in 2008 prior to Christmas day was 7 December 2008 (which was a Sunday), with 7.26% share of visits.

·In 2009, the day that has attracted the greatest share of visits for Shopping and Classifieds so far is 13 December 2009, also a Sunday, with 6.74% share of visits.

Another reason why visits to Shopping websites are occurring later in the season is the greater connection between online and offline shopping (See Heather Dougherty’s related post). We certainly have seen searches for ‘trading hours’ and ‘store location’ grow each Christmas period in Australia, demonstrating how shoppers use online to support their in-store purchases.

So in the 11th hour, which Bricks and Mortar Retailers are set to benefit from the last-minute shopping rush?

Apple is performing strongly, with the Apple Store and its Australian website accounting for 14.5% share of visits amongst Bricks and Mortar Retailers. It is also interesting to note the appearance of The Westfield Group amongst the top 10 websites, reinforcing our observations on the importance of online for promoting physical retail outlets.

This wraps up my retail posts for this year. You can download the full Experian Hitwise Christmas Retail series here. Wishing you all a happy festive season!

Comparison shopping sites can help influence new shoppers

2009-12-17T09:00:36Z

A few weeks ago I wrote about the opportunity for retailers to build brand credibility through strengthening online content around consumer product reviews. This is part of a wider theme of understanding both the short and long term influencing factors during the customer online buying cycle.

In this post, I want to take a step back and look at how we can help identify where the customer ‘starts’ their shopping research. To that end, I looked at the downstream clicks of the largest distributor of traffic to retail websites in Australia, i.e. Google Australia (more than 1 in 4 clicks during November 2009), and used our ‘new visitors’ filter to understand where new customers were going.

You can see that eBay Australia and Trading Post Online get the most ‘new’ traffic which is probably more a factor of their sheer online size. What’s notable is the prevalence of comparison shopping websites, namely Shopping.com AU, GetPrice, MyShopping.com.au, and Lasoo amongst the top 20 websites.

While having a strong online brand presence is important in attracting customers direct via search engines, strong partnerships with comparison shopping websites is also key in influencing customers during the early phase of the buying cycle.

Update: Note that the websites in the table are listed in order of 'new click volume'. The horizontal bars in the far right column allude to the 'new' vs. 'returning' visitor rate per website.

Credit card searches up as consumer confidence returns

2009-11-27T03:36:40Z

Credit card searches in Australia have picked up from a three year low in May 2009, and were up 24% comparing weeks ending 21 November 2009 and 2 May 2009. This is one indication that consumers may be adopting a less tentative attitude towards their personal debt, amidst reports that the consumer outlook for Christmas spending this year is positive.

The below figure charts search variations on ‘credit card’ and ‘term deposit’ trended over a three year period (I’ve excluded their plural forms for the sake of brevity).

Search variations on ‘term deposit’ reached their peak during the week ending 11 October 2008, as Australian banks actively promoted term deposits and encouraged spending restraint from consumers. Since then, search traffic around term deposits has retained its overall momentum, but is not growing at the same rate.

So now that there’s an indication that the tide may be changing, who’s helping to drive increased awareness of credit cards? The below figure shows the top variations on ‘credit card’, with branded terms accounting for 8 out of the top 10 searches. The leading term was ‘ignite credit card’, owned by Westpac, with 3.41% search volume during the 12 weeks ending 21 November 2009. The most popular branded search variation on 'credit cards' (plural) was 'anz credit cards' for the same time period.

For those tempted to put all their Christmas presents on credit this year, here’s some timely advice from finance commentator, Michael Pascoe.

Product reviews – content opportunities for retailers

2009-11-26T00:36:55Z

Retail players, like in any other industry, need to develop strong online content to attract high traffic volumes, and ultimately earn the trust of consumers through the integrity of information provided on websites.

Consumer product reviews are an excellent example of content that retailers can host on their own web properties. ‘Review’ search variations appear frequently for example in the traffic to the Shopping and Classifieds - Appliances and Electronics industry, as consumers seek advice from the source they are often most likely to trust: other consumers.

This type of comparison activity is increasing – a search portfolio of ‘review’ search variations sending traffic to Appliances and Electronics websites increased 5-fold during the 4 weeks ending 21 November 2009, compared to the same period last year. Many Appliances and Electronics retailers have caught on to this trend, with the average rate of paid search traffic accounting for 16.41%.

Mobile phone reviews dominated the top 20 clicks, with the term ‘nokia n97 review’ sending the most traffic to Appliances and Electronics websites. Leading non-branded terms included, ‘mobile phone reviews’, ‘laptop reviews’, ‘gps reviews’, ‘camera reviews’ and ‘digital camera reviews’.

Who’s receiving organic clicks on product reviews?

While PPC is obviously an important tactic in attracting customers, organic search results provide one proxy for the ‘usefulness’ of an online information source, and can be an important benchmark when reviewing which websites get the most traffic from product-related search terms.

It was no surprise to see that tech publications dominated the list of top websites to receive traffic from electronic related ‘review’ terms. CNET.com.au received the most organic traffic, with 13.28% of clicks. Comparison websites also featured prominently, with Product Review Australia receiving 3.46% of clicks.

JB Hi-Fi Australia Online Shop featured as the top bricks and mortar website to receive organic clicks from ‘review’ terms. It was also interesting to see the new Dick Smith Electronics - Customer Reviews website appear recently in our fast moving website listings, debuting at 5th position in the Shopping and Classifieds – Appliances and Electronics category, during the week ending 31 October 2009.

Blog Shops popular in Singapore

2009-11-19T05:57:47Z

Christmas online shopping in Singapore and Hong Kong has gained strength over the past few years, with visits to the Shopping and Classifieds industry reaching a 3-year high during the week ending 28 November 2008 in Singapore, and week ending 13 December 2008 in Hong Kong.

Earlier this week I provided an update on the leading product categories in the retail sector in Australia. There were some regional similarities in Singapore and Hong Kong, with Apparel and Accessories, Computers and Appliances and Electronics dominant verticals in all three markets.

· Apparel and Accessories was the largest retail category in Singapore, accounting for more than 1 in 5 visits to Shopping and Classifieds during the week ending 7 November 2009. Visits to the sector also grew by 34.7% year on year to week ending 7 November 2009.

· An interesting phenomenon in the Singapore Apparel and Accessories industry is the prevalence of blogging websites that offer retail. Examples of blogs amongst the top 10 Apparel and Accessories websites included, BonitoChico, Agneselle, Hollyhoque, Agnes's Deepest Thoughts and So She Say. This could be an indication that Singapore users increasingly prefer to do retail transactions through a blogging vehicle and if this is the case, presents a real challenge to Auctions and Classifieds players in Singapore. Slow year on year visit rates to Auctions and Classifieds websites supports this hypothesis. I’d be interested to hear from Singapore readers if this is backed up anecdotally.

· The Computers industry attracted the highest share amongst Shopping and Classifieds websites in Hong Kong, accounting for 1 in 10 visits during the week ending 7 November 2009. Apple Store accounted for 40% share of visits in the Computers category; behind Singapore in local penetration rate (45%) but ahead of Australia (15%) and New Zealand (4.93%).

· Video and Games attracted 136% growth in visits year on year in Hong Kong, primarily due to the dominance of SensAsian.com, a Malaysian entertainment retail portal. Fast moving categories also included Music and House and Garden. In Singapore, Apparel and Accessories, Computers and Sports and Fitness attracted the fastest year on year growth (34.7%, 21.8%, 5.25% and respectively).