Online retailer voted UK’s Best Brand

Kelkoo has announced the findings of its European Best Retail Brand report, which reveals that Amazon is the number one brand for consumers in the UK, followed closely by Tesco and Marks and Spencer.  Despite being the 25th largest UK retailer by sales and the only pure online brand to appear in the top ten rankings, Amazon also secures a place in the top 2 for 70% of all the award categories explored in the research.  The UK and Germany were the only two countries surveyed to vote an online only retailer as their number one brand – France, Italy and Denmark voted international furniture retailer IKEA as their best brand, whilst the Netherlands and Spain chose local retailers Albert Heijn and El Corte Inglés.

The study, commissioned by Kelkoo and carried out by the Centre for Brand Analysis , the research agency that powers the ‘Superbrands’ and ‘CoolBrands’ surveys, analysed opinions from over 10,500 consumers (1,500 in the UK), on 286 leading European retail brands (50 in the UK). Consumers judged the brands on ten different attributes including; value, deals and offers, trustworthiness, customer service, shopping experience both in store and online, delivery options, innovation, environmental concern and how ‘cool’ a brand is considered.  This is the first pan-European report to provide an in-depth analysis of the factors that create true brand affinity based on consumer opinion as opposed to industry peers, financial brand value or retail sales volumes.

Amazon secured its place at the top of the table based on consistently high feedback, securing the number one spot in 40% of all categories.  The online retailer was voted number one for value, customer service, delivery and online shopping experience ahead of iconic brands such as John Lewis and Tesco. It was also voted number two for being cool and innovative (just behind Apple) and trustworthy hot on the heels of Marks and Spencer. Aside from its economic success and impressive growth of 20% in 2009/10, Amazon’s place at number one suggests it has successfully formed emotional connections with its customers through a reputation of providing the best deals, a reliable delivery service, a clear returns policy and transparent pricing.

Chris Simpson, Kelkoo CMO comments:  “The appearance of an internet-only brand in the top ten may seem like a surprising curve ball.  However, to put this into context, the online retail sector is expected to grow by 14% this year, ten times more than the high street at 1.4% so it makes sense for such an established and successful online retailer to feature highly with so many people. 

“Amazon’s place at the top of the table is a result of its consistent performance across all factors that are important to consumers.  The business model is firmly based on value for money, transparency and trust thanks to its successful review service – both of which are key factors in building customer affinity. With this in mind, multi channel retailers that are investing heavily to increase their online presence are certainly working towards the right strategy for growth.”

In second place overall, Tesco beat its supermarket rivals to the top spot for deals and offers thanks to the success of its Clubcard scheme which has circa 15 million users.  As the biggest player in the UK retail market, accounting for £1 in every £7 spent and a 30% market share, its focus on price reductions and customer rewards could explain why it has secured a place in the nation’s hearts.

Marks and Spencer completes the top three with consumers voting it best for trustworthiness, in-store shopping experience and environmental concern, suggesting its ethical and environmental programme, ‘Plan A’, is resonating with consumers. In addition, Marks and Spencer’s heritage as a high-street stalwart and trusted brand for over 100 years, is likely to have resulted in consumer affection and ultimately its place at number three.

Consumer priorities when choosing where to shop

The Best Retail Brand report also reveals the factors that consumers rate most highly when choosing where to shop. Value for money was rated as the most important factor by more than half (54%) of respondents, followed by deals and offers (17%) and the brand’s reputation for being trustworthy (7%). Interestingly, customer service is most important to just 6% of those surveyed, nine times fewer than the consumers that opt for value.

Value is king

With almost three out of four (71%) consumers prioritising either value or deals and offers above all other attributes, this could explain the dominance of the UK’s supermarkets (Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s) in the top ten.  Their ongoing price wars and focus on deals, offers and loyalty schemes certainly seem to be the way to consumers’ hearts. For a brand with a large market share such as Tesco (30%), it can source the widest range of products, and, due to the volume of orders, they can also offer a more competitive price.

But not enough on its own

However, value alone is not enough to secure a place in our top ten UK retail brands.  Brands such as Aldi, Primark, and Lidl rank 4th, 6th and 7th respectively in the value rank but fall much further down the overall rankings at 23rd, 21st, and 26th place respectively.  Brands that focus purely on this attribute have been hugely successful during the recession but some may have neglected the other consumer affections.  For example, this is evident in the customer service category where these three brands feature lower in the rankings (Aldi 30th, Primark 33rd and Lidl 35th).

Not so cool to be cool

Whether a brand is considered ‘cool’ is the least important factor for consumers, with only 1% of respondents choosing this attribute. This may explain why, although Apple secures top place for both ‘innovation’ and being ‘cool’, it misses the top spot (coming fifth) in the overall favourite retail brand ranking that it is often expected to achieve.

Chris Simpson, Kelkoo CMO comments: “Our research has highlighted where consumer allegiances really lie and what factors are most important to them when choosing where to shop. It’s no surprise that value is listed as the most important reason for choosing a specific retailer, particularly in today’s uncertain economy.

“Consumer opinion confirms that ‘one trick ponies’ focusing purely on value are not doing enough to create consumer affinity for their brand. Consumers are sophisticated and expect great customer service, excellent delivery options and a good overall experience from a retailer they trust. With this in mind, we aren’t surprised to see an online retailer that manages to touch so many shopper passion points voted the nation’s best brand.  In fact, it’s thanks to online retailers that customers now expect better deals, delivery options and access to information such as consumer reviews that are difficult to deliver in an offline environment.”