Topshop traffic from MySpace grows

MySpace is giving a big boost to British fashion retailers, with the proportion of their traffic driven from the social networking site growing fast in the last year.

Referrals from MySpace accounted for 5% of visits to Topshop.co.uk - far less than searches from either MSN or Yahoo!, according to Hitwise data.

The Fox Interactive site, which boasts almost 160m users, was the second biggest traffic driver for the store and now accounts for five times the number of referrals it did last year.

Topshop, an Arcadia group company, has a MySpace profile which has attracted over 2,800 friends and links to branded podcasts. According to the profile, the store is a 24-year-old Aries who does want children.

“It is not solely a result of demographics,” wrote Hitwise’s Heather Hopkins. “Miss Selfridge and New Look attract a similar demographic profile of young women, but do not enjoy the same volume of traffic from MySpace.

“The success seems a result of participation in the community and targeted offers. Topshop has a profile on MySpace with a blog that includes special offers and discounts.”

MySpace has also given a boost to London-based online clothes retailer ASOS.com (formerly As Seen On Screen). Its profile is now giving the store twice as many referrals as last year, figures showed.

According to previous research, 58% of MySpace’s users are female.

[Source: Robert Andrews - www.e-consultancy.com - March 2007 ]

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