Study reveals best UK e-commerce websites

29th January 2009

New research has ranked DFS as having the best retail website in the UK.

Conducted by Sitemorse for Retail Bulletin, the study gave DFS a score of 9.24 out of ten for its overall quality.

Each of the websites examined in the January study were given scores based on factors such as function, accessibility, code quality and performance. While nine websites achieved overall scores of at least six out of ten in December, this rose to 19 websites in January, Sitemorse said.

Other websites that were ranked highly included Clinton Cards, Borders, Fenwick, Hamleys and Morrisons. However, Lawrence Shaw of Sitemorse criticised other big sites for failing to score highly in the study.

Referring to Next, he said: "Its scores in all the criteria tested have dropped, which is dreadful for a quality brand like Next.

"It's the same with O2. With it exclusively selling the iPhone it should be one of the best retailers online, but it isn't."

According to recent research by PayPal, UK consumers look for security the most when shopping on a new e-commerce site, followed by a clear and simple layout and navigation and detailed product information.