London, UK -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/27/2013 -- After a cold, dark and windy weekend, the number of people searching for experience days rose sharply on Sunday 23rd of June, more than doubling in volume and surpassing last summer’s seasonal spike by 10%.
Experience day specialist Activity Superstore reported a 138% increase in traffic from around 1,800 to 4,300 visitors on Sunday with an unexpected spike in search for brand terms while overall revenue soared by 41%.
“If only we could make it rain more often,” joked CEO Shaun Powell. “But it goes to show that people are influenced by the weather as much as the economy.”
Historically the end of June has always seen high volumes of rainfall in the UK, creating the Glastonbury Festival’s reputation for flooding, as well as an annual spike in online shopping.
The Met Office weather report shows an average 25mm of rainfall across the nation in 2010, a 53mm average rainfall in 2011 and an average 91mm rainfall in 2012. Data for June 2013 is still being collected.
Overall, June is showing increasing volumes of rainfall year on year. This coincides with Activity Superstore’s Google Analytics which shows an annual peak in traffic on the penultimate Sunday of every June, with increasing numbers of visitors roughly proportional to the increasing volumes of rainfall.
The fact that high numbers of birthdays in July and August also spark peaks in traffic and revenue throughout the summer months could also be a contributing factor.
However, no single marketing channel seems responsible.
“We’ve checked all of our traffic and marketing streams, but there isn’t one channel that’s responsible for this spike,” added Mr Powell. “All of our channels have risen slightly, collectively accumulating into a much bigger increase.”
A similar increase in sales was recorded across all products with sales of Spa days, paintballing and driving experiences, as well as a selection of the most popular 40th birthday ideas all rising in proportion.
Meanwhile, the weather forecast for the last weekend in June looks positive with highs of 24 degrees and lows of 12 degrees.
Based on historical data, the next traffic spike looks set to take place on the 16th of August, but whether this is caused by seasonal weather conditions or an accumulation of other minor factors remains to be seen.
About Activity Superstore
Activity Superstore was founded in 1997 and has given over a million UK customers fantastic experiences since then. That’s a million happy and excited people! Every year new and exciting activities are sourced by us and introduced to Next, Boots, M&S, Argos, Debenhams and WHSmith high street stores and websites, as well as our own online store. For more info, visit http://www.activitysuperstore.com/