Coremetrics Benchmark™ Valentine’s Day
Benchmark Report

Online Department Stores, Pets and Sporting Goods Big Winners on Valentine’s Day

The struggling economy showed signs of cautious consumer optimism over the Valentine’s holiday. While the online retail sector as a whole registered a 3 percent decrease in order sessions compared to mid-January 2009, the sector reported an average order value jump of more than 2.6 percent. Moreover, the percentage of people who put items in their shopping carts and went on to complete an order rose by more than 1.5 percent. These numbers underscore that those consumers who actually decided to buy online bought items for a higher total dollar amount than at this time last month.

Notable Retail Categories Compared to mid-January 2009

  • Department Stores reported a slue of positive numbers: the average number of items per order rose nearly 7.8 percent; the average dollar value of those orders rose by nearly 13 percent, while shopping cart conversion rates—or the number of people who not only placed items in their carts, but went on to complete
    orders—rose by more than 8.5 percent.
  • Gifts retailers experienced a jump of nearly 33 percent in the number of order sessions, not surprising given the traditional nature of gift giving on Valentine’s Day. The average dollar value of orders also rose by 7.3 percent.
  • Jewelry retailers, another favorite among Valentine’s Day traditionalists, experienced a jumped of nearly 80 percent in the number of sessions in which consumers placed at least one item in their shopping carts. Similarly, order sessions jumped by 27 percent. But the average number of items per order and their average dollar value both decreased by 15.7 percent and 20 percent respectively, indicating that while jewelry continued to be a draw among Valentine’s Day shoppers, consumers spent considerably less in this category than in the past.
  • Pet Stores reported solid numbers across the board, from a 5.6 percent rise in order sessions to a 6.2 percent rise in the average number of items per order to a 5.4 percent increase in the average dollar value of those orders.
  • Sporting Goods retailers reported similarly strong numbers, with a jump of 10 percent in order sessions. The average number of items per order jumped more than 7.6 percent and the average dollar value of those orders jumped by
    4.13 percent.

Valentine’s Day 2009 Data
For complete information, download the PDF.

  Session Traffic Summary Feb 1-15,
2009		  Jan 1-15,
 2009		   % Change
  (m/m)		 Feb 1-15,
2008 		% Change
(y/y)
  One Page Session1 25.60% 24.86% 2.98% 23.04% 11.11%
  Multi Page Session2 74.40% 75.14% -0.98% 76.96% -3.33%
  Browser Session3 51.01% 50.74% 0.53% 51.31% -0.58%
  Shopping Cart Sessions4 8.79% 9.14% -3.83% 9.23% -4.77%
  Order Sessions5 2.91% 3.00% -3.00% 3.23% -9.91%
             
 
  Visitor Experience Summary Feb 1-15,
2009		  Jan 1-15,
 2009		   % Change
  (m/m)		 Feb 1-15,
2008 		% Change
(y/y)
  Page Views Per Session6 11.65 11.87 -1.85% 12.88 -9.54%
  Product Page Views Per Session7 3.11 3.27 -4.69% 3.75 -16.99%
  Average Time on Site (in seconds)8 485.46 510.23 -4.85% 607.05 -20.03%
             
 
  Transaction Summary Feb 1-15,
2009		  Jan 1-15,
 2009		   % Change
  (m/m)		 Feb 1-15,
2008 		% Change
(y/y)
  Average Items/Order9 4.98 6.38 -22.04% 5.30 -6.06%
  Average Order Value10 $133.42 $130.00 2.63% $139.95 -4.67%
  Shopping Cart Conversion Rate11 34.95% 34.43% 1.51% 37.00% -5.54%
  Shopping Cart Abandonment12 65.05% 65.57% -0.79% 63.00% 3.25%
  New Visitor Conversion Rate13 2.11% 2.08% 1.44% 2.37% -10.97%
             
 
  On-Site Search Summary Feb 1-15,
2009		  Jan 1-15,
 2009		   % Change
  (m/m)		 Feb 1-15,
2008 		% Change
(y/y)
  On-Site Search Session14 17.48% 18.19% -3.90% 15.13% 15.53%
 
 

Download the Valentine’s Day Benchmark Report

 
About Coremetrics Benchmark:
 
Session Traffic Summary Metrics
1. One Page Session % The percentage of sessions in which visitors only viewed one page before leaving the site.
2. Multi-Page Session % The percentage of sessions in which visitors viewed more than one page.
3. Browser Session % The percentage of sessions in which visitors viewed at least one product page.
4. Shopping Cart Session % The percentage of sessions in which visitors placed at least one item in their shopping carts.
5. Order Session % The percentage of sessions in which visitors completed an order.
 
Visitor Experience Summary Metrics
6. Page Views/Session The average number of pages viewed by visitors per session.
7. Product Views/Session The average number of products viewed by visitors per session.
8. Average Time on Site The average length of time for a visitor session.
 
Transactions Summary Metrics
9. Average Items/Order The average number of items purchased per order.
10. Average Order Value The average value of each order.
11. Shopping Cart Conversion % Out of all visitors who placed items in their shopping carts, the percentage that placed an actual order.
12. Shopping Cart Abandonment % Out of all visitors who placed items in their shopping carts, the percentage that did not place an actual order.
13. New Visitor Conversion % Out of all new visitor sessions, the percentage that completed an order.
 
On-Site Search Summary Metrics
14. On-Site Search Session Out of all sessions, the percentage in which visitors used on-site search capabilities.
 
 

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