If there's a wicked storm going on (like the one raging outside the WebProNews offices at this very moment), then expect your online store to see a spike in activity.



As might be intuitive, shoppers stay inside during inclement weather, canceling their store hopping trips in favor of the comfort of their computer chairs – of course, they run the risk getting their computers fried by the electrical wrath of the gods…we'll assume "bad weather" includes snow and plain ol' rain.

Rain. England, it is said, knows a thing or two about rain, and Hitwise UK's Heather Hopkins is the person setting off this conversation about weather and how it affects online shopping.

When the US is having Memorial Day Weekend, Heather informs us Yanks (a miserable term if you're from the South…that's what we call the carpetbaggers) that the UK is having a "bank holiday weekend."

That's British for "public holiday."

During that weekend, Heather says visits to retail websites jumped by 17 percent. Interestingly enough, travel site visits also saw an increase in traffic, gaining 20 percent – most likely, we might imagine, because it was a holiday weekend, but the more romantic of us might assume it was a bad weather bummer in merry ol' England, and folks were dreaming of Tahiti.

People's homes and gardens (yards?) were also on their minds, as "House and Garden" websites visits increase by 22%. During that time, searches "weather" and "global warming" also increased.

It was a bit cold, there, she says, increasing the doubt around the concept of global warming for some, and confirming it for others. In Kentucky, it was wicked hot and humid, topping out near 90 (don't know and don't care what it is in Celsius), with humidity near 100 percent.

Back to you Matt and Meredith.  

Consumer behavior online shopping Hitwise weather