A new website functionality report reveals who the world’s top online players really are. Glynn Davis reports

Leading European retailers’ websites performed significantly better than their US counterparts, based on the testing of the 250 companies in the Deloitte Global Powers of Retailing 2009 list exclusively for the World Retail Congress.

Despite its reputation as a leading online player the US is only represented by value fashion chain Ross Stores in the top 15 places in the table. In contrast, Europe has store groups from Germany, the UK and Spain filling the bulk of the top positions.

Specialist website-testing company Sitemorse used its automated testing of the first 125 pages of each retailer’s sites to generate a ranked table based on checks to compliance, measurement of performance and the testing of the function of each of the websites.

Sitemorse founder Lawrence Shaw says: “Which country claims it is leading the way in e-commerce? The US. But they certainly don’t seem to be at the moment with most of the top names down at the bottom end of the table. Amazon, Toys R US, Sears, JC Penney and Albertsons are all in the bottom 10.”

This is surprising because he says Sitemorse is only checking for the basics of websites. “There is nothing complicated about what we are looking for. We just make sure the site works with no broken links to images and email addresses. There is nothing whizzy about it.”

This is the first time the top 250 retailers have been tested and overall Shaw believes the quality is good with 20 per cent of retailers scoring a credible six or more out of 10. But there is a “massive disparity” between the worst scorers, with the bottom 10 sites scoring a paltry 0.75 to 1.5, and the other end of the scale, where some large European retailers are doing rather well.

The top-performing site, Spain-based supermarket Mercadona, achieved 8.62 and is followed close behind by US exception, Ross Stores, with 8.61. The remainder of the retailers that score seven or more, which Shaw says indicates particularly good sites, are all European with Germany having six top-performing entrants, the UK four, and Spain three.

The top of the table also has its fair share of food retailers, with 10 of the first 17 places taken up by supermarket operators, which is an over-representation of the category. They include UK-based Morrisons, NorgesGruppen from Norway, Spar Österreich from Austria, a group of German-based players Makro, Rewe-Zentral, Tengelmann Group and Aldi, along with the Spanish pair Mercadona and Grupo Eroski.

“The supermarkets are relying more on their websites nowadays with many millions being spent online. But even if the sites are not transactional they are still an essential part of these companies’ communications, even if it is just for providing a store locator function,” explains Shaw, who adds that the Sitemorse testing does not differentiate between transactional and purely informational websites. Morrisons, for example, does not have a transactional site and has no intention of setting one up in the foreseeable future.

This group of food companies perform much better than some of the world’s largest supermarkets, with the world’s largest online grocer UK-based Tesco managing only 4.62 out of 10, which places it in 91st spot in the table. Shaw says: “Its functionality is not good, the basics are not working well, and the website’s code is poor.”

Wal-Mart also performs weakly in 178th place with a score of only 2.5, as does the world’s second largest food retailer Carrefour in 136th spot with 3.53 out of 10. In contrast, German giant Metro performs well with 6.76, which puts it in 22nd place.

Shaw points to Metro’s impressive multi-lingual site and the audio alternative for its web pages. Although the issue of accessibility for visually impaired people is rapidly moving up the agenda many sites still perform badly.

Among the 31 retailers that failed the Sitemorse accessibility tests for all of their pages are some very big names including global fashion retailer LVMH, Asia giant AS Watson & Company, C&A Europe, and a host of US-based names such as Best Buy, Foot Locker, Neiman Marcus and Sears.

Retailers were excluded from the testing if they used assistive technology such as JavaScript, which breaks the general “rules of accessibility” of internet sites, according to Sitemorse.

 

 FunctionAccessibilityCodequalityPerformanceOverall
Mercadona, SA981088.62
Ross Stores1071098.61
Kingfisher8810108.42
Otto Group105887.77
WM Morrison Supermarkets947107.7
Alliance Boots96797.69
NorgesGruppen941097.65
Makro104887.46
Rewe-Zentral96887.41
Bauhaus105977.41
Home Retail Group1055107.39
Spar Group10810107.34
The Tengelmann Group94897.29
Spar Österreich105867.25
Inditex SA7510107.1
Aldi94797.09
Grupo Eroski65997.02
Dollar Tree Stores104486.9
Groupe Vivarte469106.86
Dm-drogerie85596.82
Alticor Inc/Amway, Quixtar76786.76
Metro Group DE95586.76
Signet Group561096.61
Whole Foods Market76966.6
H2O Retailing Corporation94856.48
Edion Corporation82976.47
Deichmann Group914106.46
Safeway84496.44
Rite Aid Corporation56886.32
CVS Caremark95466.27
Douglas Holding96786.24
Associated British Foods541096.21
Arcandor90496.2
The Carphone Warehouse Group546106.18
Groupe Galeries Lafayette SA54996.13
John Lewis Partnership813106.12
BJ’s Wholesale Club100486.1
Groupe Auchan SA368106.07
Williams-Sonoma95175.94
Esselunga SpA645105.93
Edeka Zentrale805105.92
Yodobashi Camera96445.9
CP All101375.86
FEMSA Comercio94765.84
Celesio46975.8
AEON Company Limited65955.78
Dansk Supermarked A/S90495.75
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB75675.71
Fa Anton Schlecker821105.71
DSG International562105.71
Casey’s General Stores81985.69
Co-operative Group80495.64
The TJX Companies100845.63
Sheetz54875.61
Praktiker359105.57
HMV Group94075.56
Uny531065.46
Debenhams74095.46
Coop Switzerland83595.44
Life Corporation40995.4
The Daiei75645.39
Save Mart Supermarkets83765.39
Maxeda34795.38
J Sainsbury44595.38
Globus Holding563105.32
PPR SA54295.3
Apple26885.24
C&A Europe100695.23
Poslovni system Mercator100175.15
Jim Pattison Group53855.14
Burlington Coat Factory100075.12
Ruddick Corporation100445.11
Big Lots80195.1
Stater Bros55565.01
Cencosud SA80944.99
Norma Lebensmittelfilialbetrieb104374.96
Meijer94064.94
Walgreen104384.92
Hy-Vee80464.86
American Eagle Outfitters90074.86
Massmart Holdings53864.85
ICA AB63094.85
Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA513104.84
OfficeMax94274.84
HORNBACH-Baumarkt22894.8
X5 Retail Group NV65274.79
Roundy’s Supermarkets61574.78
Limited Brands141084.74
Grupo Jernimo Martins84754.73
The Sherwin-Williams Company75564.71
Tesco plc46084.62
Shoprite Holdings S Africa70654.6
Dunnes Stores104484.58
China Resources Enterprise90344.57
Wawa71494.51
Seven & I Holdings44754.5
Muller90074.5
Giant Eagle90064.5
The IKEA Group41494.45
Kohl’s Corporation91054.44
Somerfield Group252104.43
Dairy Farm International Holdings70924.41
S Group54184.41
Blockbuster80074.4
Berkshire Hathaway55654.39
Delhaize Group80084.3
The Home Depot100054.29
Heiwado50864.25
East Japan Railway Company54544.24
Metro53174.2
Mitsukoshi64154.14
LVMH50284.14
SuperValu34464.06
Army & Air Force Exchange Service30884.05
Next05594.04
Publix Super Markets93064.02
Defense Commissaryency25854.01
Fast Retailing51754.01
IAC/InteractiveCorp70963.99
Charming Shoppes50583.96
The Kroger Co63363.95
J Front Retailing52453.92
Family Dollar Stores92383.91
Dillard’s05683.88
Takashimaya Company54343.88
Foot Locker50373.86
Koninklijke Ahold NV54783.84
Staples70083.78
Marui103783.74
Dell53053.6
Casas Bahia SA54053.6
Migros30493.59
Dcathlon Group04393.58
Canadian Tire Corporation70053.57
Blokker Holding55083.55
Carrefour SA15193.53
MatsumotoKiyoshi30863.53
Macy’s60063.52
Michaels Stores50263.47
Saks Incorporated US34873.43
PetSmart60063.42
HE Butt Grocery Company50473.37
Lagardere Services Asia Pacific70043.26
Borders Group40083.22
Centres Distributeurs E Leclerc20493.22
Lowe’s Companies53073.2
Organizacion Soriana70143.19
QuikTrip Corporation72373.18
Best Buy70053.16
Liberty Media/QVC80073.16