Travel slips in UK's Top 50 e-retailers rankings

Monday, Jun 01,2009, 1:53:44 PM Click:

All travel companies in the UK, excluding Thomson Holidays, are losing internet traffic, according to web research company Hitwise.

The firm today released a study of data back to 2006 that shows that Amazon has been the most popular e-retailer site for each of the three years.

It also says that the fastest growing sector in online shopping has been clothing, with eight specialist retailers featuring in the Top 100. In addition, three high street stores have gone online.

Hitwise chief exectuive James Roper said UK shoppers would spend £50 billion online this year.

And the latest online shopping trend, he said, is cross-border trading, with UK retailers looking to exploit the weak pound and entice overseas shoppers - as outbound travel sales online decline.

The new figures back up a slew of reports documenting the decline of travel in the past nine months. Most recently, Stansted airport saw passenger numbers fall by 20 per cent over the Spring Bank Holiday compared to last year.

The number of trips abroad taken by Britons fell in March for the fifth consecutive month. In November, 2008 - traditionally the second quietest month for travel, after December - some 5.49m trips were taken abroad.

But by March, when travel picks up, the figure had slumped to 5.01m. In the first three months of 2009, 14 per cent fewer trips were taken compared to the same period last year. The big holiday firms, Tui and Thomas Cook, both confirmed sales are down by 12-14 per cent this year.

The biggest travel seller online remains Expedia, ranked 8th in the Hitwise Top 50, with easyJet, Ryanair and Thomson close behind.

THE TOP 20 e-RETAILERS IN THE UK

1 Amazon UK
2 Argos
3 Play.com
4 Amazon.com
5 Tesco.com
6 Marks & Spencer
7 Epson UK
8 Expedia.co.uk
9 Next
10 ASOS
11 easyJet
12 Ryanair
13 Thomson Holidays
14 Dell EMEA
15 Tesco Direct
16 B&Q
17 Apple Computer
18 HMV.com
19 Littlewoods
20 Sainsbury's