Top 50 online retailers in the UK

Since May 2007:
- 6  NEW ENTRANTS / BACK IN
- 20  RISERS
- 17  FALLERS
- 7  RETAIN POSITION

The most remarkable thing about the August Hot Shops List is the lack of movement either up or down of the e-retailers it tracks.  Twenty-six of the fifty were within three places of their rankings in May, and of these, sixteen were within one place, while seven held exactly the same position.

Four brands continue to dominate the top spots, as they have all year;  Amazon.co.uk (1) remains well ahead of the pack every time, Argos (2) and Tesco (3) swap the second and third positions between them, Play.com comes in a close fourth.

Millions of online shoppers with travel on their minds pulled eighteen travel companies onto the list this time, including two newcomers - TravelRepublic.co.uk at 40 and National Express at 48.  Four travel companies made the top ten:  Thomson Holidays moved up six places into 5th slot, Expedia.co.uk retained its 6th position, easyJet move up one place, to 7th, while lastminute.com jumped five places, coming in 10th.

Beneficiaries of July's dreadful weather, and the List's highest risers, were two cinema chains - Odeon Cinemas, up fourteen places to 28, and the other new entrant, Vue Entertainment, in at 36.

Good progress is recorded for Next at 11, up from 14 in May, Littlewoods at 30, up from 38, ASDA back in at 37, and DSG international brands, Currys at 17 and PC World at 23.

IMRG's CEO, James Roper, comments: "Against a backdrop of huge growth in online sales, up 80% on last year to £4+ billion in July, the stability of retailers' positions on the List is extraordinary, and tells me two things:  these market leaders are satisfying their customers pretty well, and competitors are having little or no effect on their progress.  The really odd thing is that nothing about e-retailing is static - the customer base, expectations, propositions, technology - its all evolving rapidly all the time.  Beneath this apparently serene and stable market is frantic activity keeping it so."

Hitwise's Director of Research, Robin Goad, comments: "The growth of travel sites is primarily a seasonal adjustment, but a 50% year on year increase in traffic helped TravelRepublic.co.uk enter the top 50 for the first time.  There has been a shift in the electrical sector, with the multi-brand stores gaining at the expense of the pure play brands.  

“DSG's online properties have been particularly successful, with Currys traffic up 23% compared to last year, and PC World up 33%.  Successful summer sales can help retailers drive traffic to their websites, and Next stands out this year.  UK Internet searches for the term ‘next sale’ were up 40% compared to last year, helping Next regain its position as the number one clothing retailer."

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

** IMRG 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.

Source: www.imrg.org