Amazon, Argos – most popular with online UK shoppers

(Ferenc Cegledi/shutterstock.com)

Amazon, Argos and Tesco are some of the online retailers most popular with shoppers in the United Kingdom claims a new report.

The fifth annual "Hot 100," which lists the top 100 e-retailers in terms of site traffic, was released by analysts IMRG and Experian Hitwise on May 23. The report compared traffic to each site over April 2011 with the same period the previous year.

The report shows that in the UK Amazon came out top, followed by household retailer Argos and supermarket Tesco, which moved from fifth position in 2010 to overtake digital entertainment retailers Play.com and claim the third spot. The global version of Amazon, amazon.com, was also popular with UK online shoppers, charting in sixth place.

Amazon is also one of the most popular retail websites in the USA where data from Experian Hitwise shows that, in the four weeks prior to May 14, it was the most visited US e-retailer followed by department store chain Walmart ( www.walmart.com). However the retail giant has to compete with online auction site eBay ( www.ebay.com) which was the most visited retailer in both Australia and Singapore throughout May.

New entries in the top ten included department store John Lewis and home décor and accessories retailer B&Q. Experian Hitwise attribute the rise of B&Q to a demand for BBQs and garden furniture driven by pre-summer sunshine.

The top ten e-retailers on the IMRG and Experian Hitwise Hot Shops list May 2011 were:

Position change	Position May 2011	May 2010	Retailer	Website
No change	1	1	Amazon UK	www.amazon.co.uk
No Change	2	2	Argos	www.argos.co.uk
+2	3	5	Tesco	www.tesco.co.uk
-1	4	3	Play.com	www.play.com
+3	5	8	Next	www.next.co.uk
No change	6	6	Amazon	www.amazon.com
No change	7	7	Your M&S	www.marksandspencer.com
-4	8	4	Apple	www.apple.com
+ 4	9	13	B&Q	www.diy.com
+6	13	19	Debenhams	www.debenhams.com