1 December 2005

The cold and frosty weather could be fuelling a boom in online retailing, reveals new research.

Consumers seem to be showing an unusual concern with the weather recently, with the Internet monitoring company Hitwise recording a massive increase in the number of searches for weather.

It reports that searches for the word 'weather' are up 430 per cent year-on-year for the week ending November 26th and a further 156 per cent up compared to the number of hits in the previous week.

"The increase in searches for 'weather' is almost certainly driven by frosty weather in the UK rather than the frequency of natural disasters," said Heather Hopkins, the director of research for Hitwise.

"While searches for 'weather uk', 'uk weather' and 'uk weather forecast' all increased dramatically last week, searches for 'world weather' decreased," she explained.

With shoppers seemingly eager to keep warm and snug inside, it is likely many more will head online to do their Christmas shopping than go outside and face the elements.

© Adfero Ltd

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