Visits to online retail websites are expected to grow by eight per cent this Christmas, says Hitwise UK, a provider of comparative analysis of online traffic.

This growth will apparently be driven by increased confidence in online shopping, deliveries that arrive on time and wide ranging use of search engines, like Google and Yahoo, to find products. In December 2005, search engines accounted for 30 per cent of visits to retailers and in August, according to Hitwise, that figure reached 34 per cent.

Heather Hopkins, vice president of research at Hitwise, expressed optimism ‘that the strong growth we have seen to date in 2006 heralds a busy season for online retail and an even stronger rate of growth than experienced in the busy 2005 season.’

Hitwise predicts that search engines will continue to grow as a source of visits to shopping and classifieds sites, accounting for 35 per cent of visits in December 2006. This is obviously bad news for the high street, which continues to lose market share to out-of-town ‘shopping villages’ and to internet-based retailers. With the lower overheads enjoyed by e-retailers meaning cheaper goods and the convenience of shopping online enjoyed by consumers, high-street shopping is likely to continue to struggle.