With all the talk about online sales growth and the decline of the high street you'd be forgiven for thinking that the future is all Amazon and not Next - but you'd be wrong, as figures have shown that high-street retailers have managed to get increased website traffic.

A report from Hitwise found that the likes of Argos and M&S are now ahead of their online-only counterparts in terms of visitors.

Or to put it in more exact terms: "The internet properties of the 100 largest online high street retailers in the UK ... received 19.3 per cent more UK internet visits during July than the 100 largest online-only retailers."

High street retailers had been in the lead during December 2006, but then were behind for most of 2007, until last Christmas when they took over again and have, for the most part, been ahead in 2008.

Unfortunately Hitwise doesn't provide a reason for this fascinating change but there are a few possibilities.

High street retailers obviously have the advantage of familiarity, and perhaps now that they realise how important online sales are becoming they have increased website traffic by embracing techniques like search engine marketing.

But is it as simple as these companies waking up to the possibilities of strategic internet marketing, or is something else going on?

Online Marketing specialists Business Feet help create value from business websites