Ecommerce sites in the UK saw a significant rise in traffic shortly before the VAT rate returned to 17.5 percent on the 1st of January as consumers have tried to get themselves a late bargain.
The report from Hitwise have reported an increase of 13 percent between the weeks ending December 27th and January 2nd which is a rise of 2% on the same period in past years.
Not surprisingly the sites that saw the biggest uplift in traffic were home and garden sites which Hitwise reported received an increase of a generous 67 percent as people are carrying on the trend of improving their homes for the New Year.
Another trend which you might have expected was an increase in traffic towards sports and fitness sites. Interestingly however web searches about the VAT change increased by 54% last week which shows that there was an interest for the outlined change.