Social Networks Impact Retail Sites

If Santa’s sled is extra heavy this year, his reindeer can blame it on Facebook, MySpace, and Bebo - a new report from Hitwise indicates that social networks are having a huge impact on retail sites.

“The amount of UK Internet traffic online retailers receive from social networks increased by 153% between December 2006 and September 2007,” writes IPOs.

On the other hand, there was one shift that indicated a target demographic is becoming harder to reach: “[B]etween December 2006 and September 2007, the proportion of visitors aged 55+ to our Net Communities and Chat category, which is dominated by social networks, has increased by 63%, while the proportion coming from the 18 -24 age group has decreased by 19%,” writes Goad.

Looks like Santa may be carrying more wigs than Wiis.