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Date:31 May 2012

IMRG Experian Hitwise HOT 100

Highlights:

• Netflix was a new entry to the Hot Shops top 100 this year featuring at number 34 in the May list. Since the last Hot Shops list in February Netflix has jumped an impressive 63 places. 
• Online-only fashion brands had a strong year with brands like ASOS, Very and boohoo climbing the rankings. Multi-channel apparel brands New Look, Zara, Republic and TK Maxx also improved their positions from last year. 
• This year’s five fastest movers in the Hot Shops list were Zara (+25), TK Maxx (+16), Very (+14), Urban Outfitters (+13) and boohoo (+13).
• Cycling websites Halfords, Wiggle and Evans Cycles all rose up the rankings from the previous quarter ahead of the more favourable summer weather and the forthcoming London Olympics. 

Analysis:

The sixth annual Hot Shops Top 100 list was as competitive as ever as only five of the 100 retailers which made the list this year kept the same place as they did in 2011. It was the online-only fashion retailers which were the most impressive, with ASOS (up 4 positions year-on-year), Very (+14) and boohoo (+13) all improving their rankings from this time last year.

Zara, TK Maxx and Urban Outfitters were the stand-out performers from the multi-channel apparel retail section, with all three seeing significant gains in the yearly rankings. Zara only started being fully transactional last year and since the 2011 Hot Shops Top 100 list has gone from just scraping into the top 100 to becoming a well-established member firmly placed at 73 this year. New Look also performed well to break back into the higher echelons of the list. Despite fierce competition at the top, New Look was ranked 12 in this year's list, up nine places since February and an improvement of three places on 2011.

Although a newcomer to the Top 100, the overall fastest mover this quarter was Netflix. The American company had previously tried and failed to break the UK movie rental market but with a new business model which includes online streaming, Netflix is making great strides and this quarter jumped an astonishing 63 places to take the number 34 spot. Netflix's top competitor LoveFilm was ranked 17 this year, up an impressive 10 places year-on-year.

The sectors which did not fare so well this quarter were travel and electronics. Because of the two seasonal peaks in the year in January and July it was to be expected that this quarter travel sites would slip in the rankings. Bucking that trend was budget airline Ryanair which actually managed to rise three places to 22, the only travel brand to improve its position from last quarter. Year-on-year, travel agencies Thomson, First Choice and Expedia all improved on their positions indicating a recovery in the travel sector from last year's challenging trading conditions.

In the electronics industry PC World, Comet and Currys all fell in the rankings due to a decline in interest in buying big ticket items such as TVs, laptops, computers and white goods. However, despite falling in the quarterly rankings, Currys was five places ahead of where it was this time last year. After going into administration video games retailer GAME predictably plummeted down the Hot Shops list, finishing at 64. 

James Murray, Digital Insight Manager for Experian Marketing Services commented:
“The return of Netflix to the UK market has been interesting to watch over the last eight months and the website now commands 11 per cent of the online Video & Games shopping market. At its current rate of growth it won't be long at all until Netflix is mounting a serious challenge against LoveFilm although at the moment it seems there is room in the video streaming market to sustain growth for both competitors.
 
“So far 2012 has been an encouraging year for fashion retailers and in particular the online-only retailers including ASOS, Very and boohoo. We've been saying for a while now that the gap between multi-channel and online-only retail has been narrowing and these results are further evidence of that trend. Finally, with less than 100 days to go until the London Olympics it is not surprising to see increased visits going to cycling websites Halfords, wiggle and Evans Cycles. In 2008 when Chris Hoy won three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics we saw visits to cycling websites triple, and we would expect a similar effect this year if our top athletes can perform at the London Games.”

Tina Spooner, Chief Information Officer at IMRG, commented:
“The rising popularity of digital content-providers is clear to see, with both LoveFilm and Netflix recording very strong traffic growth. We would expect to see this trend continue over the coming period as this kind of content works particularly well on long train journeys through tablet devices and when Smart TVs start to become pervasive, it will be a perfect fit.

“It is very interesting to see the fashion retailers doing well in terms of traffic, as during the same period (April) we saw the clothing sector record its lowest ever growth throughout the 12 years of our Index: just 1 per cent. It seems that people were thinking about updating their wardrobes for summer even if they were not buying due to it being one of the wettest Aprils ever.”






MEDIA ENQUIRIES

IMRG
Andy Mulcahy
Tel: 020 7716 5604
Email: andy.mulcahy@imrg.org
Web: www.imrg.org

EXPERIAN HITWISE
Alexandra Banks
Tel: +44 (0)796610 2823
Email: press.uk@hitwise.com
Web: www.hitwise.com/uk


Notes to Editors

About IMRG
IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group) is the industry association for global e-retail. Formed in 1990, IMRG is setting and maintaining pragmatic and robust e-retail standards to enable fast-track industry growth, and facilitates its community of members with practical help, information, tools, guidance and networking. Consumers can be confident when dealing with IMRG Members because all interact in an environment where they are encouraged to operate using methods that are Honest, Decent, Legal, Truthful and Fair, and have undertaken to not bring the industry into disrepute. The strength of IMRG is the collective and cooperative power of its members. For more information please visit http://www.imrg.org/ or email market@imrg.org.

About Experian Hitwise
Experian Hitwise is the leading online competitive intelligence service. Experian Hitwise gives marketers a competitive advantage by providing daily insights on how 25 million Internet users around the world interact with more than 1 million Web sites. This external view helps companies grow and protect their businesses by identifying threats and opportunities as they develop. Experian Hitwise has more than 1,500 clients across numerous sectors, including financial services, media, travel and retail.

Experian Hitwise (FTS:EXPN), www.experianplc.com, operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Canada, France and Brazil. More information about Experian Hitwise is available at www.hitwise.com/uk.