March Rankings of Top 50 Retail Websites

DSGi websites power up the league table of leading online stores but HMV group continues to slide

By Glynn Davis

DSGi has had an impressive month with all three of its brands moving strongly up the March Top 50 UK retail websites Index, with both Currys and PC World now in the top 10.

Currys has moved up 36 places to fifth spot with a score of 5.3 out of 10, PC World has gone from 37th to ninth place, and Dixons has progressed 19 places to 11th spot in the table. This represents something of a turnaround as the DSGi brands have been perennial poor performers.

The list of sites tested has been created jointly by The Retail Bulletin and specialist website testing company Sitemorse that used its automated testing of the first 125 pages, reading page content, reviewing templates and checking the delivery infrastructure to generate a ranked table.
 
Lawrence Shaw, CEO of Sitemorse, says: "We've been very critical in the past of how disappointing it has been that a technology retailer should have such dire websites. But this month shows that that DSGi has clearly been placing a greater focus on delivering a better customer experience online. Maybe we are finally seeing the results of the efforts of chief executive John Browett who has stated his commitment to online being a key element of the company's strategy."
 
There have been no other serious table-climbers this month and very little change at the top, with DFS maintaining its premier spot and La Senza and Top Shop completing the top three.
 
In contrast, there have been some major fallers with Debenhams dropping 19 places to 28th spot, Carphone Warehouse slipping 23 rungs to 40th place, and HMV declining 20 places to 44th spot.
 
When you consider that HMV's sister site Waterstone's fell one place to move into the bottom spot with a score of only 1.36 it has clearly been a bad month for HMV Group. Much work is needed if the group is to deliver on chief executive Simon Fox's aim of the business being a true multi-channel operation. "It is a long way off delivering on this, judging by this month's performances," says Shaw.
 
Such have been the paltry scores achieved by Waterstone's in the Sitemorse tests over the past year that it cannot have been that much of a surprise to anybody when the book seller's managing director Gerry Johnson was jettisoned in January and replaced by Dominic Myers.
 
One of the key areas of poor performance that continues to dog many retailers is accessibility for visually impaired people, which is surprising as it is a legal obligation for all websites in the UK. Worryingly eight sites fail basic web accessibility on every page tested by Sitemorse – Ann Summers, Boots, B&Q, Firebox, Harrods, Play.com, Staples and Thorntons.

To see the rankings click here