New research reveals that home and living company IKEA will offer the best customer experience for e-commerce shoppers in 2025.
The Retail Ranking report, by Refined Commerce, analysed 100 of the UK’s largest ecommerce sites across 12 sub-sectors and used a range of elements to determine the sub-sectors and brands best suited to customers, including page speed, responsiveness, visibility on Google and accessibility.
IKEA was found to have the least amount of site jitters, as indicated by its CLS score, fast responsiveness to user interactions (INP), and only one accessibility issue at the time of analysis.
Page speed is critical for shoppers as customers expect fast and fluid browsing experiences, especially when making last-minute purchases.
Following IKEA is e-commerce giant Amazon, which started out as a bookstore before branching out into a plethora of other products to make a name for itself today. Amazon had one of the highest domain scores of those analysed, at 96, just behind Apple, meaning that people searching for various items are likely to see Amazon at the top of their Google search results.
The only fashion and clothing site to make the top ten is department store chain House of Fraser, which sells luxury clothing from a number of brands, as well as furniture and homewares. House of Fraser came in eighth, with one of the fastest loading speeds on desktop and mobile.
Warhammer (formerly Games Workshop) came in ninth place, with only one accessibility issue found in Axe Core Dev Tools, similar to eBay, Apple and Next at the time of analysis.
The Body Shop and My Protein were the two health, beauty and cosmetics sites that appeared in the top ten, and users are likely to experience no delays and quick turnaround when purchasing from the site.
Best Websites to Experience E-Commerce:
1 – Ikea
2 – Amazon
3 – Dell
4 – The body workshop
5 – My protein
6 – Etsy
7 – eBay
8 – The House of Fraser
9 – War Hammer
10 –Game.co.uk
The two sectors that stand out the most in the Refined Retail Ranking for the best shopping experience are toys and hobbies and books, media and entertainment.
Of the 12 subsectors analzed, those selling pet supplies and food and beverages ranked in the bottom two spots in terms of best shopper experience among the brands analyzed at the time of writing.
Rowan Burgess, director of Refined Commerce, commented on the research:
“During busy shopping periods, websites need to be fast, stable and accessible to meet customer expectations on both desktop and mobile devices. Accessibility is especially vital during peak shopping times to ensure all customers, including those with disabilities, can browse and shop without barriers. Features such as screen reader support, proper alt text for images, clear navigation and keyboard functionality are not only good practice, they are essential.
Meanwhile, good visibility on Google ensures that sites appear prominently in search results, which captures the most interested buyers and generates organic traffic. Without these elements, e-commerce businesses risk losing potential sales to competitors who offer a more seamless, reliable and visible online experience.”
