SECOND ANNUAL IRUK TOP500 DEFINES THE TOP RETAILERS IN THE UK’S WORLD-LEADING ECOMMERCE AND MULTICHANNEL RETAIL INDUSTRY
The report looks at turnover, online and mobile usability, delivery services, social media use, engagement strategies, marketplaces and best practices of UK’s most respected traders
London, 4th February 2015 – Amazon, Argos, Boots, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Mothercare and Screwfix are at the forefront of the UK’s ecommerce and multichannel retail industry, new InternetRetailing research has found.
The seven retailers have been judged Elite retailers in the second annual Internet Retailing UK Top500 (IRUK Top500), published this week, sponsored by PFSweb. A cluster of 20 leading retailers that includes Asos, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, among others.
The in-depth study rigorously designed metrics to determine expertise in areas including mobile and cross-channel capabilities, logistics and strategic planning, and also considers turnover.
The report has established some insight of the dimension and true workings of the retail industry:
- The size and turnover of the UK’s 500 leading retailers varies between £500,000 and £43 bn, of which ecommerce spans between £500,000 to £5.3 bn (13%)
- The number of largest 100 UK retailers offering Sunday and nominated-time delivery has doubled in the past year
- 23% of Top500 retailers have a transactional app, and 20% have native apps
- Half of the largest 50 retailers are selling their most popular products at a lower price than Amazon
Researchers reached their conclusions through analysis of ecommerce and multichannel retailers trading in the UK across seven Dimensions, starting with retail and ecommerce turnover, the companies’ Footprint, and rating performance in Strategy and Innovation, Mobile and Cross-channel, Customer Experience, Operations and Logistics, Merchandising and Brand Engagement.
“These Elite retailers lead in the world’s most dynamic ecommerce market,” said InternetRetailing Editor-in-Chief Ian Jindal. “These are the companies that the industry will watch in order to learn what works in 21st-century retail. Our year-round research captures the impact of new developments and changing retail practice as they happen.”
Ian Jindal said: “The IRUK Top500 2016 launches and introduces ongoing Indices that show in detail how retailers succeed in cutting-edge techniques from dynamic pricing to increasing search reach, in partnership with Knowledge Partners including Wiser and OneHydra. We look forward to sharing that constantly updated research throughout the industry over the coming year.”
The IRUK Top500 report will be followed through the year with a series of Dimension Reports that look in-depth at the individual areas covered in the Top500. The first IRUK Top500 2016 Dimension Report, on Brand Engagement, will appear with the March issue of InternetRetailing magazine and online at www.internetretailing.net.
This coming year will also see the publication of the IREU Top500, which will produce the definitive ranking of the leading players in the European digital retail market.
For more details and further comment on the UK’s ecommerce and multichannel retail industry and its leading players contact Ian Jindal at ian@internetretailing.net, research@internetretailing.net or on 07776 207308.
The full report can also be downloaded from this link at the moment, it will be shared to the general public on March in http://internetretailing.net/iruk/.
About Internet Retailing
InternetRetailing provides analysis, insight and stimulus for Europe’s multichannel retailers. Activities span print, digital publishing and video, live events, skills development and confidential briefing and discussion formats.
InternetRetailing is developed by experts in retail, technology, customer insight and logistics and is a source of ideas, competitive intelligence and business briefing on the sector. Each issue is themed around a certain key aspect of the online or multichannel business and that area is investigated in depth from the point of view of different areas of the retail operation.
About PFSweb
PFSweb is the title sponsor of the IRUK Top500 report and the IRUK Top500 series of supplements that will be published throughout 2016.
Key findings from the IRUK Top500 2016
InternetRetailing research delved deep into the detail of how the UK’s leading multichannel and ecommerce retailers operate. They came up with some interesting findings.
• The size and turnover of the UK’s 500 leading retailers cover a wide range (see p5 of the IRUK Top500 report for more).
Turnover varies between £500,000 and £43 bn, with an average of £554m.
Ecommerce turnover: from £500,000 to £5.3 bn; average £125m.
Web traffic: 548,000 to 157bn page views a year; average 700m.
UK stores: from 0 to 11,500; average 130.
• The number of largest 100 UK retailers offering Sunday and nominated-time delivery has doubled in the past year (see p15 for more).
• Post is the most popular return channel for online orders, offered by 59%. More than 4 in 10 (41%) offer return-to-store with 41% (see p15 chart).
• Just a third of retail websites promote alternative products when a search query returns a ‘no results’ page (see p17).
• Facebook and Twitter had reached saturation (98% uptake) when we measured last year, but in the 12 months since Google+, YouTube and Pinterest have become more entrenched with 91%, 83% and 66% uptake, respectively (see p19 graphic).
• Emails sent on a Sunday enjoy the highest open rate (See p18 marketing insights box-out).
• Just over a fifth (23%) of Top500 retailers have a transactional app, and 20% have native apps (p20).
• The most common feature detected in retail apps was the ability to view a wishlist. Analysis from Knowledge Partner Poq Studio suggests apps with this feature have a conversion rate 1.8 times the platform average, and an average browsing time that’s 3.5 times longer (page 20).
• Half of the largest 50 retailers are selling their most popular products at a lower price than Amazon (page 22).
