Top 50 online retailers in the UK

It’s steady again at the top of the latest Hot Shops List, with the leading four brands retaining their dominance of the UK online shopping scene:  Amazon.co.uk (1), Argos (2), Play (3) & Apple Computer (4). Amazon.com (5), Tesco (6) & John Lewis (8) all moved up one place with Easyjet (10) entering the top 10 by moving up 2 places. Marks & Spencer (7) fell two places and Next (9) dropped a single place.

Key trends for February 2010:

• Amazon retains the List's top spot once again                                
• Nine of the November 2009 top ten brands are still in the top ten                        
• Six of the top ten have physical stores, the same as last quarter                                
• 16 stores moved up the ranking this quarter with 1 new entrant and 3 back in        
• 26 moved down the ranking with 4 remaining static                                

IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List, February 2010

*The IMRG-Experian 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

The biggest movers this quarter were: Thomas Cook (15) moving up thirty one positions, British Airways (31) moved up eleven places, The Trainline (24) and Thomson Holidays (11) both climbed ten.

There was only one new entrant to the list this quarter - the new Littlewoods brand, Very.co.uk (34). Tesco Superstore (28), TravelRepublic.co.uk (39) and First Choice (45) all re-entered the Top 50 having been there previously.

Some brands fell significantly this quarter compared to last. Ticketmaster (37) fell twenty one places, Sainsburys (41) & O2 Shop (47) both fell twelve spots, while Travelodge (46) fell nine places.  Another twenty two moved down by less than nine places while Carphone Warehouse, HP, QVCUK.com and Toys 'R' Us UK all fell out of the top 50 this quarter.

IMRG's CEO, James Roper, said:  "This new Hot Shops List records retail traffic when online sales were growing at their lowest rate since records began, a decade ago.  The current recession began in December 2007 according the National Bureau of Economic Research (the official arbiter of recessions) so it is interesting to note how HSL rankings compare with the period prior to the economic collapse. 

“Three years ago, in February 2007, the top HSL positions were broadly the same - Amazon 1 (now 1), Argos 2 (2), Tesco 3 (6), Play.com 4 (3), easyJet 5 (10).  Big high street names are some of the biggest risers since February 2007 - Marks & Spencer 16 (now 7), John Lewis 22 (8), Next 18 (9), and Debenhams 42 (18).  We expect significant fresh movement on the HSL this year as the economy begins to recover, pushing more trade online, and the next generation of innovations, such as mobile apps, kick in."  
    
Experian Hitwise's Director of Research, Robin Goad, added: "With Christmas and sales shopping mostly out of the way and snow covering much of the country, during January British consumers turned their attention to planning and booking their summer holidays. Seven travel companies moved up the rankings, and easyJet re-entered the top 10. The big travel agencies did particularly well, with Thomas Cook moving 31 positions to 15th and Thomson Holidays 10 positions to 11th, one ahead of Expedia.

“There was minimal movement elsewhere in the top 10 and the top four remain unchanged. The big retailers that managed to extend their sales beyond the immediate post-Christmas week fared well, while LoveFilm also benefited from the poor weather; why go out in the cold when you can stay inside with a good DVD?"

Sources:

www.imrg.org

www.hitwise.com/uk

********************************

Get Netimperative updates on Twitter