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London, 25 Novemeber 2008 Hitwise today publishes the eleventh quarterly edition of the IMRG-HITWISE HOT SHOPS LIST, which ranks by popularity, as indicated by visits, the top 50 UK e-retailers* selling goods and services within the IMRG Index Classification.

This Pre-Christmas edition of the Hot Shops List is characterised by rises in event tickets, fashion, groceries and computers, while travel falls even further than it normally does at this time of year. Amazon.co.uk (1), Argos (2), Play.com (3) and Tesco (4) lead the field as usual. M&S makes it into the top five for the first time and John Lewis (13) reaches another all-time high. Fashion house New Look, at 46, is the one new entrant. The number of high street stores making the Hot Fifty climbs again, to thirty.

IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List, November 2008

1

Amazon UK

www.amazon.co.uk

2

Argos

www.argos.co.uk

3

Play.com

play.com

4

Tesco.com

www.tesco.com

5

Marks & Spencer

www.marksandspencer.com

6

Amazon.com

www.amazon.com

7

Next

www.next.co.uk

8

Dell EMEA

www.euro.dell.com

9

Tesco Direct

direct.tesco.com

10

Ticketmaster UK

www.ticketmaster.co.uk

11

Currys

www.currys.co.uk

12

easyJet

www.easyjet.co.uk

13

John Lewis

www.johnlewis.com

14

ASOS

www.asos.com

15

RyanAir

www.ryanair.com

16

Expedia.co.uk

www.expedia.co.uk

17

HMV.co.uk

www.hmv.co.uk

18

lastminute.com

www.lastminute.com

19

Ebuyer

www.ebuyer.com

20

Apple Computer

www.apple.com

21

GAME

shop.game.net

22

Thomson Holidays

www.thomson.co.uk

23

PC World

www.pcworld.co.uk

24

Comet UK

www.comet.co.uk

25

ASDA

www.asda.co.uk

26

Woolworths UK

www.woolworths.co.uk

27

B&Q

www.diy.com

28

Debenhams

www.debenhams.com

29

Boots

www.boots.com

30

Topshop

www.topshop.co.uk

31

Screwfix Direct

www.screwfix.com

32

River Island

www.riverisland.com

33

Odeon Cinemas

www.odeon.co.uk

34

Littlewoods

www.littlewoods.com

35

Sainsbury's

www.sainsburys.com

36

Toys 'R' Us - UK

www.toysrus.co.uk

37

LOVEFiLM

www.lovefilm.com

38

British Airways

www.britishairways.com

39

QVCUK.com

www.qvcuk.com

40

HP

www.hp.com

41

Seetickets

www.seetickets.com

42

Vue Entertainment

www.myvue.com

43

Thomas Cook

www.thomascook.com

44

The Orange Shop

shop.orange.co.uk

45

IKEA

www.ikea.com

46

New Look

www.travelrepublic.co.uk

47

O2 Shop

shop.o2.co.uk

48

Travelodge UK

www.travelodge.co.uk

49

Carphone Warehouse

www.carphonewarehouse.com

50

M and M Direct

www.mandmdirect.com

 

The IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List of the top 50 UK e-retailers* is the key indicator of online merchant performance. The List is published quarterly and tracks popularity, as indicated by visits, of those selling goods and services within the IMRG Capgemini Index Classification**. This List is based on October 2008 data.

* The IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List excludes eBay and price comparison / aggregator websites such as Kelkoo and Froogle.

** IMRG Capgemini Index Classification: Beer / wine / spirits; Books; CDs / tapes / records; Clothing / footwear / accessories; Computer hardware / peripherals / consumables; Consumer electronics; Digital downloads (e.g. music, software); Flowers; Food, beverages and household supplies; Furniture; Garden / DIY; Health and beauty; Home appliances (e.g. washing machines); Household goods (e.g. kitchenware, bedding); Jewellery / watches; Software; Sporting goods; Tickets (e.g. cinema, theatre, events); Toys; Travel (e.g. flights, holidays, hotels, car hire); Video games; Videos / DVDs

This eleventh quarterly Hot Shops List is characterised by rises in event tickets, fashion, groceries and computers, while travel falls even further than it normally does at this time of year. Amazon.co.uk (1), Argos (2), Play (3) and Tesco (4) lead the field as usual. M&S makes it into the top five for the first time and John Lewis (13) reaches another all-time high. Fashion house New Look, at 46, is the one new entrant. The number of high street stores making the Hot Fifty climbs again, to thirty.

Marks and Spencer comes home at number 5, its highest ever List ranking, up from the eighth place it held in both August and last November. M&S ranked only twenty-third in the first HSL, published in May 2006, but has since been making steady progress towards a more suitable position for the power retailer, at the top of the List with the other leaders.

The highest climbers, both jumping eighteen places since August, are Ticketmaster which reaches its all-time high to join the top ten at 10, and Boots, at 29, though this is four places lower than the same time last year.

Other hot risers include Game (21), ASDA (25) and River Island (32), each climbing eleven places from their August rankings, Dell (8) and Sainsbury's (35) which both leap up nine spots, while Topshop (30) and HP (40) both rise eight positions. Also rising are Currys (11) up seven places, HMV (17) and Debenhams (28) both up three spots, Littlewoods (34) up five and QVC (39) up six positions.

The brands falling furthest this time round are mainly in the travel sector: Thomas Cook (43) plummets twenty-two places from its August ranking, while Thomson Holidays (22) loses fifteen positions, and Travelodge (48) and British Airways (38) are both down eight points.

New Look (46) adds to the strong fashion presence on the List. Marks and Spencer (5) steals the spot occupied last time by Next (7). ASOS (14) and Topshop (30) both climb to their highest-ever positions.

IMRG's CEO, James Roper, comments:

"Consumers are turning to the internet as usual to help them shop their way through tough times. With confidence in online security low and falling it is great to see that nineteen of the Hot Fifty online retailers are ISIS trust scheme accredited and thereby going that extra mile to make the internet a great and safe place to shop for all. ISIS uniquely brings industry, government and all other stakeholder groups together to defend and improve the online shopping experience so that everybody can have a happy and confident e-Christmas. IMRG is very grateful to Tesco, Next, John Lewis, ASOS, lastminute.com, Ebuyer, GAME, Comet, B&Q, Debenhams, Boots, Topshop, Screwfix, Littlewoods, Sainsbury's, QVC, Orange, The Carphone Warehouse, M and M Direct and all of the many hundreds of other great brands that support the online shopping industry's ISIS trust scheme."

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

"Despite the economic slowdown, online spending is predicted to increase by 15% this Christmas. However, people are expected to spend less on going out, choosing instead to cocoon themselves in their homes. Two sectors that are benefiting from this trend are House and Garden retailers both B&Q and Screwfix have moved up the list and e-retailers selling consumer electronics, reflected in the strong online performances of Dell, Currys, HMV and Game. Fashion continues to be the fastest growing online retail sector, and all of the apparel retailers on the list have moved up the rankings and reached new highs this quarter. Marks and Spencer has entered the top 5 for the first time, while a similarly strong performance form John Lewis shows that people are turning to trusted brands in these uncertain times."

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

IMRG

HITWISE

Paul Evans

Jannie Cahill

Tel: +44 (0) 7000 46 46 74

Tel: +44 (0) 7378 3619

Email:paul@imrg.org

Email: jannie.cahill@hitwise.com

Web: www.imrg.org

Web: www.hitwise.co.uk

About IMRG: IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group), founded in 1990, is the industry association serving e-retail: www.imrg.org

About Hitwise: Hitwise, established in 1997, is the leading online competitive intelligence service: www.hitwise.co.uk