Top 50 UK retailers- October 2008

This eleventh quarterly Hot Shops List is characterised by rises in event tickets, fashion, groceries and computers, while travel falls even further than it normally does at this time of year.  

Amazon.co.uk (1), Argos (2), Play.com (3) and Tesco (4) lead the field as usual.  M&S makes it into the top five for the first time and John Lewis (13) reaches another all-time high.

Fashion house NewLook, at 46, is the one new entrant. The number of high street stores making the Hot Fifty climbs again, to thirty.

The top 50 list is as follows:

1 Amazon UK www.amazon.co.uk

2 Argos www.argos.co.uk

3 Play.com play.com

4 Tesco.com www.tesco.com

5 Marks & Spencer www.marksandspencer.com

6 Amazon.com www.amazon.com

7 Next www.next.co.uk

8 Dell EMEA www.euro.dell.com

9 Tesco Direct direct.tesco.com

10 Ticketmaster UK www.ticketmaster.co.uk

11 Currys www.currys.co.uk

12 easyJet www.easyjet.co.uk

13 John Lewis www.johnlewis.com

14 ASOS www.asos.com

15 RyanAir www.ryanair.com

16 Expedia.co.uk www.expedia.co.uk

17 HMV.co.uk www.hmv.co.uk

18 lastminute.com www.lastminute.com

19 Ebuyer www.ebuyer.com

20 Apple Computer www.apple.com

21 GAME shop.game.net

22 Thomson Holidays www.thomson.co.uk

23 PC World www.pcworld.co.uk

24 Comet UK www.comet.co.uk

25 ASDA www.asda.co.uk

26 Woolworths UK www.woolworths.co.uk

27 B&Q www.diy.com

28 Debenhams www.debenhams.com

29 Boots www.boots.com

30 Topshop www.topshop.co.uk

31 Screwfix Direct www.screwfix.com

32 River Island www.riverisland.com

33 Odeon Cinemas www.odeon.co.uk

34 Littlewoods www.littlewoods.com

35 Sainsbury's www.sainsburys.com

36 Toys 'R' Us - UK www.toysrus.co.uk

37 LOVEFiLM www.lovefilm.com

38 British Airways www.britishairways.com

39 QVCUK.com www.qvcuk.com

40 HP www.hp.com

41 Seetickets www.seetickets.com

42 Vue Entertainment www.myvue.com

43 Thomas Cook www.thomascook.com

44 The Orange Shop shop.orange.co.uk

45 IKEA www.ikea.com

46 New Look www.travelrepublic.co.uk

47 O2 Shop shop.o2.co.uk

48 Travelodge UK www.travelodge.co.uk

49 Carphone Warehouse www.carphonewarehouse.com

50 M and M Direct www.mandmdirect.com

The IMRG- Hitwise Hot Shops List of the top 50 UK e-retailers* is the key indicator of online merchant

performance. The List is published quarterly and tracks popularity, as indicated by visits, of those selling goods

and services within the IMRG Capgemini Index Classification**. This List is based on October 2008 data.

* The IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List excludes eBay and price comparison / aggregator websites such as Kelkoo and Froogle.

** IMRG Capgemini Index Classification: Beer / wine / spirits; Books; CDs / tapes / records; Clothing / footwear / accessories; Computer hardware /

peripherals / consumables; Consumer electronics; Digital downloads (e.g. music, software); Flowers; Food, beverages and household supplies; Furniture;

Garden / DIY; Health and beauty; Home appliances (e.g. washing machines); Household goods (e.g. kitchenware, bedding); Jewellery / watches;

Software; Sporting goods; Tickets (e.g. cinema, theatre, events); Toys; Travel (e.g. flights, holidays, hotels, car hire); Video games; Videos / DVDs

Analysis

This eleventh quarterly Hot Shops List is characterised by rises in event tickets, fashion, groceries and computers, while travel falls even further than it normally does at this time of year. Amazon.co.uk (1), Argos (2), Play.com (3) and Tesco (4) lead the field as usual.

M&S makes it into the top five for the first time and John Lewis (13) reaches another all-time high. Fashion house New Look, at 46, is the one new entrant. The number of high street stores making the Hot Fifty climbs again, to thirty.

Marks and Spencer comes home at number 5, its highest ever List ranking, up from the eighth place it held in both August and last November. M&S ranked only twenty-third in the first HSL, published in May 2006, but has since been making steady progress towards a more suitable position for the power retailer, at the top of the List with the other leaders. The highest climbers, both jumping eighteen places since August, are Ticketmaster which reaches its all-time high to join the top ten at 10, and Boots, at 29, though this is four places lower than the same time last year.

Other hot risers include Game (21), ASDA (25) and River Island (32), each climbing eleven places from their August rankings, Dell (8) and Sainsbury’s (35) which both leap up nine spots, while Topshop (30) and HP (40) both rise eight positions. Also rising are Currys (11) up seven places, HMV (17) and Debenhams (28) both up three spots, Littlewoods (34) up five and QVC (39) up six positions.

The brands falling furthest this time round are mainly in the travel sector: Thomas Cook (43) plummets twenty-two places from its August ranking, while Thomson Holidays (22) loses fifteen positions, and Travelodge (48) and British Airways (38) are both down eight points.

New Look (46) adds to the strong fashion presence on the List. Marks and Spencer (5) steals the spot occupied last time by Next (7). ASOS (13) and Topshop (30) both climb to their highest-ever positions.

IMRG's CEO, James Roper, said: “Consumers are turning to internet as usual to help them shop their way through toughtimes. With confidence in online security low and falling it is great to see that nineteen of the Hot Fifty online retailers are ISIS trust scheme accredited and thereby going that extra mile to make the internet a great and safe place to shop for all. ISIS uniquely brings industry, government and all other stakeholder groups together to defend and improve the online shopping experience so that everybody can have a happy and confident e-Christmas.

“IMRG is very grateful to Tesco, Next, John Lewis, ASOS, lastminute.com, Ebuyer, GAME, Comet, B&Q, Debenhams, Boots, Topshop, Screwfix, Littlewoods, Sainsbury’s, QVC, Orange, The Carphone Warehouse, M and M Direct and all of the many hundreds of other great brands that support the online shopping industry’s ISIS trust scheme.”

Hitwise's Director of Research, Robin Goad, comments: “Despite the economic slowdown, online spending is predicted to increase by 15% this Christmas. However, people are expected to spend less on going out, choosing instead to cocoon themselves in their homes. Two sectors that are benefiting from this trend are House and Garden retailers – both B&Q and Screwfix have moved up the list – and eretailers selling consumer electronics, reflected in the strong online performances of Dell, Currys, HMV and Game.

“Fashion continues to be the fastest growing online retail sector, and all of the apparel retailers on the list have moved up the rankings and reached new highs this quarter. Marks and Spencer has entered the top 5 for the first time, while a similarly strong performance form John Lewis shows that people are turning to trusted brands in these uncertain times.”

Source:

www.hitwise.co.uk

www.imrg.org