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Hitwise Intelligence - Robin Goad - UK
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LoveFilm: the 11th most visited online retailer in the UK
June 17, 2010
Yesterday BBC Radio 4’s consumer affairs program You and Yours included an item on LoveFilm, the online DVD rental and movie streaming service. It included an interview with the company’s CEO Simon Calver, as well as myself talking about the popularity of the site. You can listen to the interviews on iPlayer here, but I thought that I’d share some of the key finding on the blog:
• Since taking over Amazon’s DVD rental business in early 2008, UK internet traffic to Love Film has increased by 150%.
• Love Film is now one the top 100 websites in the UK, and last month the 11th most popular online retailer (putting it ahead of a number of big names including: B&Q, ASOS, Apple, Top Shop, Currys, and HMV).
• It is also the second most visited movie website in the UK after IMDB.
• Love Film is particularly popular with young professionals and therefore receives much of its traffic from London and other big cities such as Manchester and Glasgow.
• Unlike most other retailers it isn’t particularly reliant on search engines for traffic (they account for just one-fifth of visits vs. two-fifths for a typical retailer).
• Instead, other key sources of visits are social networks (it is the 8th most popular retailer visited after Facebook), email and entertainment websites – with much of the former traffic coming via advertising, affiliates and refer a friend schemes.
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Posted by Robin Goad at 11:51 AM
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In Categories BBC | Demographics | Movies | Retail | Shopping and Classifieds | Social networks | Video
Comments
Paul - I think you've identified the reason in your question! At Christmas time people are buying DVDs rather than renting them, and although Lovefilm does sell DVDs, is primary business is rentals, so at that time of the year it loses out to the likes of Play, Amazon and HMV.
Thanks, Robin
Posted by Robin Goad | June 17, 2010 12:28 PM
I note a big dip in December every year - I would have thought in the run up to Christmas people would be buying DVDs online more. Wonder what is going on there...
Posted by Paul Milne | June 17, 2010 12:22 PM