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Spending on online retail jumped a total of 719.2% on comparable figures for July to September 2003 – from £184,000, to £1.5m – by far the biggest jump of the top 10 advertiser categories.

In second place was finance, at £16.3m– a 62.8% rise.

All 10 categories posted rises, and the outdoor industry as a whole recorded the second highest revenue figure ever, at  £213.5m – a 7.3% year-on-year hike.

Alan James, chief executive of the OAA, said: “Online retail definitely looks as though it’s expanding and I can see good growth in the sector because it’s beginning to work. But the figures have to be seen in context, and you need to keep in mind that online retail has come from a very low base the year before.

“All it needs is for one big advertiser to come back and spend a reasonable amount of money, and in this case that company is Lastminute.com, which according to NMR [Nielsen Media Research] figures, has spent £696,000 in this period.”

Hannah Skellor, marketing director of Viacom Outdoor, expressed surprise at the outstanding performance of online retail, despite having anticipated that this sector would do well.

She says: “The outdoor audience is young, upmarket and technology-literate; they are very busy and always on the go. The flexibility and variety of outdoor gives online advertisers lots of choice with smaller budgets – they can advertise regionally or locally. Also, with outdoor, the audience has the dwell time to read the ad and make a careful note of the website.”

James said the figures demonstrate that the outdoor medium continues to perform well in an otherwise volatile market.

“Outdoor has revitalised itself. There has been a huge investment and almost monthly innovation. The sector is full of ideas.”

The latest figures topped the previous quarter’s numbers as the second best for the outdoor sector. The best performing period was the final quarter of 2003 when outdoor revenue reached £228.7m.

By Lucia Cockcroft