The latest Top 50 e-Retailers report from IMRG and Experian Hitwise sees no change in the top 2 (Amazon and Argos leading the way) but there are a few changes in rank and one new entry into the top 10.
With the summer upon us it was travel sites who improved most over the last quarter with each of the major travel brands (including Thomson in 10th position) making a rise compared to May 2011 rankings and the sector making up 1 in 5 of the top 50.
Yet, while getting away was popular so was just getting out. Both Odeon (37th) and Vue (44th) returned to the top 50 after a short stint outside. Interestingly, home entertainment-type retailers (other than Amazon) were amongst the hardest hit by the season, with sites like Play.com, HMV and Game all dropping in the rankings.
So the figures perhaps reflect more seasonal changes than specific trends in online buying but of note are some new names making big impressions on the e-commerce sector. The online offering from fashion-retailer Next overtook Tesco in this last quarter and in July alone accounted for 1 in ever 11 visits for online fashion. In the same sector Matalan is making massive inroads too, having quadrupled traffic to its site over the past three years to record levels last month that lifted it to 40th spot. Year on year the biggest risers have been House of Fraser (up 20 places), Sainsbury’s and Ikea (both up 12 spots).
Interestingly,in the multi-channel era, online only offerings such as Amazon UK (1st), Play.com (6th), Expedia (14th) and ASOS (19th) continue to compete strongly alongside big high-street brands who have moved online.
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