European Best Retail Brand report reveals favourite brands and factors that consumers rate most highly when choosing where to shop.

Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) is the number one brand for consumers in the UK, followed closely by Tesco plc (LON:TSCO) and Marks and Spencer Group Plc (LON:MKS), according to new research.

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.

European Best Retail Brand report

The European Best Retail Brand report, commissioned by Kelkoo and carried out by the Centre for Brand Analysis, 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.  

Top ranked

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.

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. 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.

Other keypoints

- 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%).

- 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.

- 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 in the overall favourite retail brand ranking.