Most online shopping is during business hours, Coremetrics data show

The web’s open for business 24/7, but new data from Coremetrics, Inc.’s LIVEmark Index shows that most shoppers are browsing and buying during business hours on weekdays. Retail sites in the analytics provider’s benchmark index received 40% more visitors and 53% more purchasing on weekdays than on weekends during September.

Most of the weekday visits and purchases occurred during business hours. Specifically, in September, 62% of weekday visitors to the indexed sites occurred between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Central time, while only 26% of weekday visits occurred in the evening during those days. Weekday, daytime visits to the sites were 15% more likely to result in a purchase than visits during the evening, the data showed.

Data on online traffic patterns demonstrate the important of daytime hours to marketers wishing to capitalize on consumer browsing behavior, according to Coremetrics. Site visits for the retailers indexed peaked at mid-day on weekdays, between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m. Central time, making mid-day promotions especially important to product exposure and sales.

The LIVEmark Index includes more than 175 leading e-retailers in nine subcategories.