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IMRG Hitwise Hotshops List Top 100

IMRG Hitwise Hotshops Top 100

The IMRG/Hitwise Hot Shops List 3rd Anniversary

Annual IMRG/Hitwise HOT 100 Launched



The IMRG / Hitwise Hot Shops List is now three years old, and provides a unique perspective on how the e-retail market leaders are performing in terms of attracting visitors to their websites.

To coincide with the third anniversary of The IMRG / Hitwise Hot Shops List and new for May 2009 (based on April data) we have launched an Annual Top 100. This is definitely the list to be seen on if you want to be perceived as a serious contender in the e-retail market and will give a wider perspective on the Hot Shops List going forward.

Since the first Top 50 list was produced in May 2006 we have seen 17 New entrants, 13 Companies moving up in the rankings, 17 slipping down the table, and whilst 3 have remained static, surprisingly a full 17 have disappeared off the end of the list.
Other highlights include:-

• Amazon retains the List's top spot
• Six of the original May 2006 top ten brands are still in the top ten
• Four of the top ten have physical stores, up from three
• Twenty eight have high street stores, up from twenty three in 2006

At number 1, Amazon's dominance of the Hot Shops List has remained unchallenged every quarter since the List was first published, in May 2006. Argos has moved into second place this time, its highest annual May ranking to date up from 5 last May and 3 in May 2007 & 2006, although it has been at number 2 in other quarters in the past.

Play.com (3/ originally 5) held on to the third position it enjoyed in last May. Amazon.com (4/6), at 4, pushed Tesco.com (5/4) into its lowest ranking so far, down to number 5.

Six of the original top ten retain membership of that elite group: Amazon UK (1/1), Argos (2/3), Play.com (3/5), Amazon.com (4/6), Tesco.com (5/4), Expedia.co.uk (8/7). Joining them this May are Marks & Spencer (6/23 ) Epson UK (7/NEW), Next (9/14) and ASOS (10/50).
Only four of the top ten retailers have physical stores, down from five in May 2008. Twenty-eight of the fifty Hot Shops have high street stores, up from twenty-three in 2006.

Leading the fastest climbers are ASOS (10/50), Marks & Spencer (6/23) and Epson UK (7/NEW) who did not feature in the top 50 in May 2006. In addition we have B&Q moving to 16 from 24, HMV.com at 18 from 32 and Littlewoods at 19 from 40.

Electrical and travel are the sectors most strongly represented on the List. The top 5 electrical retailers include Epson UK (7/NEW), Dell (14/2) Apple Computer (17/10), Ebuyer (25/NEW) & Currys (29/27) with a trend of pure play online retailers entering the list whilst established retailers have lost ground. The top 5 Travel companies are Expedia (8/7), Easyjet (11/8), Ryanair (12/9) Thompson Holidays (13/13) and Lastminute.com (22/12). Apart from Thompson Holidays (13/13) who is in the same position - all other companies in the Travel sector have lost ground in the listings since May 2006.

Clothing is the fastest growing online shopping sector, with eight specialist retailers on the List including two of the biggest risers, Marks & Spencer (6/23) and ASOS (10/50), and three new-to-the-List high street brands - Topshop (21/NEW) and River Island (24/NEW) and New Look (40/NEW).

Grocery sales are also booming online. Tesco.com (5/4) continues to lead in this sector, while ASDA (23/49) is making excellent headway, and Sainsbury's (20/NEW) joined the List at 45 in November 2007 and has risen 15 places since then.

The seventeen newcomers to the List since May 2006 are Epson UK (7), Tesco Direct (15), Sainsbury's (20), Topshop (21), River Island (24), Ebuyer (25), LOVEFiLM (32), GAME (36), Homebase (37), Odeon Cinemas (39), New Look (40), The TrainLine (41), Cineworld Cinemas (42), Vue Entertainment (44), IKEA (46), Boots (48) and Halfords (49).

Brands that originally appeared on the List but have since dropped out of the top 100 are MyTravel (17), Packard Bell UK (38), XL.com (33), Tesco Electrical (34), Thompsonfly (21) and Woolworths (41). A number of others, whilst out of the Top 50 are still placed within the Top 100.

IMRG's CEO, James Roper, comments:


"We are now all used to the Hot Shops List highlighting the 50 brands at the top of the e-retail game, so it is interesting to get this three-year perspective, and to double the number in scope to 100 in this new annual view. Online merchants tend to be best placed to rapidly read and respond to consumers' shifting sentiments, appetites, values and demands, driven by the current alien economic vortex.
With more than £50 billion worth of online sales at stake this year, and almost all of retail growth accounted for by the online sector, if a brand is not on the list, you probably have to worry about its future - so being in the Top 100 is an accolade worth striving for. Cross-border trading is the latest online shopping trend that is taking off, as UK retailers seek to exploit the weak pound's attractiveness to overseas shoppers."

Hitwise's Director of Research, Robin Goad, comments:


“Looking back over 3 years of the IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops list, perhaps the most surprising thing is how stable the top 50 has been. 33 of the retailers in this quarter's top 50 appeared in the list 3 years ago, nicely illustrating the staying power of top brands. It is also interesting to note that, of the 17 companies that weren't on the list 3 years ago but are now, the majority are established high street names. However, while consumers do look for trusted brands when shopping online, they also look for innovative products, competitive prices and great customer service - and all of these contribute to a retailer's online reputation. That is why there will always be space for innovative online only players such as Amazon, Play.com, Expedia and ASOS, and why online remains the most exciting channel for retailers both old and new."

IMRG Hitwise Top 100




MEDIA ENQUIRIES


IMRG
Paul Evans
Tel: +44 (0) 7000 46 46 74
Email: paul@imrg.org
Web: www.imrg.org

HITWISE
Jannie Cahill
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7378 3619
Email: jannie.cahill@hitwise.com
Web: www.hitwise.co.uk