New daily data from Ipsos iris provides fascinating insights into online usage on specific dates. Following the Christmas Day analysis last week, today UKOM looks at 26th December and highlights some of the apps and websites in the top 100 that were the knockouts of Boxing Day.
It probably comes as no surprise to discover that the websites that grew most when comparing their Boxing Day audience with the same day the week before were retailer sites. Soon after opening presents and finishing their Christmas dinner, people turned their attention to online shopping. The table below shows the star performers - retailers that featured in the top 100 websites on 26th December AND had an audience at least 25% higher than the Sunday before. Of these, Argos, John Lewis and Boots attracted the most visitors, but TK Maxx stands out with growth of 189% as people flocked to the site searching for red and gold label deals. Other retailer websites that experienced big uplifts on Boxing Day included Dunelm (+96%), New Look (+91%), Debenhams (+92%) and Currys (+79%). It is worth noting that most people visited retailer websites rather than apps – ASOS, Argos and John Lewis all featured in the top 100 apps and had over 25% audience growth with ASOS (+91%) being the star performer.
Aside from retailers, there were some other notable websites and apps that performed well the day after Christmas. As people sought out the best product deals online, Which.co.uk (+51%), Wowcher.co.uk (+29%) and Groupon’s mobile app (+34%) all experienced double digit growth. As with the 25th the audience to the National Lottery website (+41%) and app (+82%) were both up again compared to the week before – maybe people were checking the results of the Christmas Day draw in the hope they could buy a bit more in the Boxing Day sales!
People were still searching for something to watch on the box or stream with IMDB (+42% website and 33% app), Radio Times website (+41%), Disney+ website (+51%) and the BBC iPlayer app (+11%) all increasing their audiences. Although several matches got cancelled due to covid, the traditional festive football fixtures resulted in growth for the Premier League’s website (+14%) and app (+25%) whilst Sky Sport’s Boxing Day website audience was also 30% higher than on the previous Sunday.
With Christmas Day over, people also caught up on the news as several national newspaper websites had higher audiences than the week before. Maybe people wanted to see if their New Year Celebration could still go ahead or whether their team’s football match had been cancelled? The Independent.co.uk did particularly well - its audience was 30% higher than the Sunday before.
Finally, Boxing Day was another popular day for using Signal – the encrypted instant messaging app had over 850,000 users, an increase of 128% compared to the same day the week before.
Whilst this analysis just looks at movement in the top 100 websites and apps among all aged 15+, Ipsos iris reported Boxing Day data for over 1,800 websites and 600 mobile apps. Daily data can be analysed by different audiences and the top 100 varies considerably depending on target market selection. For example, among 15-24s, adidas.co.uk and H&M websites were both in the top 100 and Boxing Day audiences were both 4x higher than the week before.
Notes on data:
Source: Ipsos MORI, Ipsos iris Online Audience Measurement Service, Daily Data, Dec 2021. All data is based on the top 100 daily websites and the top 100 daily mobile apps on 26th December 2021.
Base = all aged 15+ years using PC/laptop, smartphone or tablet device(s).
