Top 500 Retail Web Sites 2007
Office Supply Retailers Dominate Top 10 Online Businesses
Amazon still leads with the highest Internet sales followed by Staples, Office Depot and Dell; however the top 10 list does have some surprises.
The 2007 edition of Internet Retailer's Top 500 Guide that ranks and profiles the 500 largest e-retailers in the U.S. is now available. Web-based retailing has grown into a US$135-billion industry. Here's a sneak preview of pertinent facts for our international trade audience.
Top Ten Retail Web Sites (based on 2006 online sales)
- Amazon.com ... US$10.7 billion
- Staples ... $4.9 billion
- Office Depot ... $4.3 billion
- Dell ... $3.9 billion
- Hewlett-Packard ... $3.1 billion
- OfficeMax ... $2.8 billion
- Sears Holding ... $2.3 billion
- CDW Inc ... $2 billion
- SonyStyle.com ... $1.7 billion
- Newegg.com ... $1.5 billion
While there are tens of thousands of retail web sites operating in America, the Top 500 e-retailers in 2006 accounted for 61% of all online sales.
A total of 145 (or 29%) the Top 500 e-retail businesses in the U.S are owned by store-based retail chains, 89 (or 18%) by catalog and direct-marketing firms, 42 (or 8%) by consumer branded manufacturers and 224 (or 45%) by the so-called pure plays or web-only retailers. Because they control an even larger share of the biggest sites, retail chains accounted for 41% of online sales reported by the Top 500 in 2006, catalogers 14%, manufacturers 14% and pure plays 31%.
Of the 500 e-retailers ranked in the Top 500 Guide, retail chains and web-only merchants grew their online sales faster than anyone else, achieving growth rates of 23.4% and 23.6% respectively. By comparison, catalogers in the Top 500 grew their e-retail sales by 21.2%% and consumer branded manufacturers by only 9.1%.
In percentage terms, Lumber Liquidators achieved the best e-retail sales growth among the Top 500 with a 400% gain. Meanwhile eCOST.com turned in the worst performance with a decline of 41% in online sales.
Hardware/Home Improvement sector grew fastest online with a 42% growth rate in 2006. Apparel/accessories boasted 2006 web sales that rose by 41% to almost $10 billion, proving that shoppers have no qualms with buying fashions online.
