The topic was growing site traffic and search traffic, and Amazon taught other retailers a lesson in 2017. The e-Commerce giant achieved a 16.2% increase in overall site traffic and an 18.4% increase in Google search traffic from “school” keywords during the back to school (BTS) season.
The 18.4% Google search traffic increase may be Amazon’s biggest accomplishment, considering how far ahead of five major retail competitors the retailer is:
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Walmart/Jet.com: 2.1% Google search traffic growth;
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Target: 1.4% growth;
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Best Buy: 14.2% Google search traffic loss; and
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Macy’s: 19.4% loss.
Despite Amazon’s overall dominance in Google search traffic growth, Walmart actually saw the single biggest driver of Google search traffic for “school” keywords in both 2016 and 2017. The term “Walmart school supplies” outpaced Amazon’s top keyword (“Amazon school supplies”) by 4X this year.
Target Generates 13% Site Traffic Increase
While Walmart has continued to impress on the e-Commerce side as it seeks a greater share of online sales, the Bentonville behemoth’s traffic growth didn’t jump as high as another mass merchant competitor: Target achieved a 13.3% increase in site traffic, the second-highest growth rate of the major retailers analyzed. Behind Target, overall site traffic growth increases were:
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Macy’s: 9.6%;
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Walmart/Jet.com: 6.5%; and
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Best Buy: 3.7% traffic loss.
Best Buy appears to have been the biggest loser of the season when it came to generating traffic, as the only major retailer analyzed to see both overall site traffic and Google search traffic decrease in 2017.
Jumpshot also pulled data regarding the top back-to-school products purchased across the major retail sites:
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Amazon: Elmer’s All Purpose School Glue Sticks, Washable, 30 Pack, 0.24-ounce sticks;
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Best Buy: Apple iPad mini 4 Wi-Fi 128GB – Gold;
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Macy’s: Under Armour Boys’ Big Logo Tee;
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Target: Mead ½ Spiral Notebook, College Ruled, 70 pages, 10.5 inches; and
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Walmart: Crayola Classic Fine Line Markers, 10 count.
The Jumpshot panel analysis comes from back-to-school shoppers who agree to share their anonymized browsing behavior from July 15 to Aug. 20. The company analyzed relevant search keywords driving the most traffic to retailers such as Target, Best Buy, Macys, Jet.com, Walmart and Amazon.
