The Favorite 50 2015

The world of online retail may seem like the Wild West, with new contenders arriving on the scene every day.

But while the competition constantly shifts, the top tier of consumers’ favorite online retailers remains stable. There is little significant movement among the top 10 favorites in this ninth annual consumer survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, and the full list includes only six relative newcomers. All this allows for greater understanding about what motivates shoppers, where they like to shop and what methods retailers use to draw them in — and it’s all been represented in recent research.

So what does it all say — and more importantly, what does it all mean?

Pam Goodfellow, director of consumer insights for Prosper, provides a deeper look at two new surveys: one assesses shoppers’ favorite online retail sites; the other looks at consumer behavior. Each provides a clear message about where online retailing is today, as well as the fact that consumers still have their “favorites.”

“These are some of the biggest names in retail anyway,” Goodfellow says. “These are safer retailers for a lot of consumers to visit. Younger consumers are a little more trusting when it comes to online shopping. For Boomers or someone a little older, consumers see these as safe retailers when it comes to online shopping.”

Amazon’s willingness to keep trying new things, as evidenced by Prime Day in July, could be one factor contributing to its customers’ loyalty.

Mighty Amazon

It’s no surprise that Amazon continues to dominate among all age groups, even increasing its share slightly. Millennials ranked it even higher.

Walmart.com ranks second, though its share dropped slightly from 2014; Walmart ranks higher among Millennials than it does among Boomers.

Does this mean Amazon has a lock on online retailing? Goodfellow points to Walmart’s status as the top bricks-and-mortar retailer. Still, “Walmart has its issues competing with Amazon,” she says. “For the foreseeable future, Amazon will be the one to beat. But that’s the interesting part of retail: It’s always changing.”

There are newcomers who hope to chip away at both retailers’ dominance. Take Jet, which is tackling both Amazon and warehouse clubs. But Amazon has something that could make that challenging. “Amazon has really collected a loyal shopper base,” Goodfellow says. “Their history in customer service speaks for itself.”

Even if Amazon Prime Day drew mixed reviews, “It goes to show that Amazon is still trying out different things and still testing,” she says.

One final thought on Amazon: It increased its share slightly, largely taking it from Walmart and JCPenney, Goodfellow believes. “It’s not a huge difference. But it shows that people are still discovering Amazon.”

Walmart shoppers are likely to be prompted by coupons to visit the retailer’s website.

Back in the game

It might be easy to gloss over Best Buy’s move to No. 3 on the list of favorites. The increase — from 6.1 percent to 6.8 percent — is relatively small, though it could signal a solution to an even bigger concern: showrooming.

“That had a lot of analysts wondering what the future was going to look like for Best Buy,” Goodfellow says. “With a focus on customer service and all the price matching that they’re now doing, it has brought some consumers back into the fold. The move into the top three this year is significant as part of the turnaround effort to get shoppers back in stores and online and getting them through the checkout.”

Looking more deeply into the data reveals several interesting nuggets on the differences between Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart online shoppers. Those who shop at Best Buy and Walmart are more likely to have triggers that drive them to the website: coupons for Walmart shoppers and a cable TV ad for Best Buy shoppers, for example.

In fact, most of the triggering events — such as seeing an online ad or text message — are more likely to move a Walmart or Best Buy shopper to the online store than Amazon shoppers.

Nordstrom jumped five places on this year’s chart, from No. 17 last year to No. 12.

Face-to-face communication drives shoppers equally to the three sites. Amazon shoppers are more likely to be triggered by reading an article than shoppers at the other two online stores.

“Amazon shoppers are just logging on to Amazon,” Goodfellow says. “There is a more direct connection with Amazon.com.”

Despite the stability at the top, there were some interesting moves just outside the top 10. Nordstrom jumped from No. 17 to No. 12. “They made a big impact with Nordstrom Rack with Millennial shoppers,” she says. “That plays into their move this year.”

Other specialty retailers also moved up: Forever 21 jumped from No. 24 to No. 16 and Gap moved from No. 22 to No. 17. “Both show the influence of younger shoppers,” Goodfellow says.

Millennials also pushed stores like Forever 21, Express and Old Navy into the top 10 for their age group.

“Millennials point to more specific preferences,” she says. “Boomers have the big traditional retailers plus Google. When you name Google as one of those preferred sites, there’s not much preference there. Boomers are still looking around. They don’t have the loyalty that some of the younger shoppers do.”

Best Buy shoppers are the most mobile-savvy and more likely to ask for a price match.

Shopping preferences

In addition to the rankings, the data shows several key insights about shoppers in general. It’s probably no surprise that Best Buy shoppers are the most mobile-savvy. But what may be surprising is those same shoppers are more likely to compare prices or ask for a price match, and are the most likely to look at another retailer’s website while in the store.

And it’s likely no surprise that big-ticket electronics or appliances are most likely to drive a shopper into a store. “You want to play around with it or ask an expert to explain it,” Goodfellow says. “It’s definitely an advantage for Best Buy, which has really been trying to play up the customer service and expert advice.”

Younger shoppers are more likely to compare prices using mobile devices. “As consumers increasingly integrate smartphones and tablets into their lives, more people will jump in the boat as far as making sure that they’re watching prices during every facet of the purchase process,” she says.

While Amazon remains far and away the retailer to beat at online shopping, Goodfellow sees a larger trend. “It’s the big retailers that are still winning online,” she says. “They have the most name recognition and probably feel the most secure. I’m not saying that the specialty retailers aren’t secure. But there’s a comfort when you can go to a name like Walmart versus a lesser-known site. If you’re a smaller player in the retail field, look to the top 10 as the ones who set the standard for shoppers and maybe adopt some best practices from what these retailers do.”