Bunnings takes out top spot in Australia's top 100 online retailers awards

Retail giant Bunnings has once again taken out the top spot in Power Retail’s annual online retail awards, while smaller player Showpo also took home two major category awards, alongside many other well known — and up-and-coming — retail names.

Each year Power Retail recognises the top 100 online retailers in the country, along with the leading retailers in 22 other categories from ‘Best Email Marketing’ to ‘Top Sustainable Retailer’.

This year’s winners were announced on Wednesday evening at Power Retail’s All Star Bash event in Melbourne.

In a statement to SmartCompany, Bunnings managing director Mike Schnieder said Bunnings is “very honoured” to be recognised as Australia’s number one retailer.

“We thank our incredible team for their hard work delivering a great experience for our customers, whether they shop with us online or in-store, and we are grateful for the continued support of our customers,” Schnieder said.

While Bunnings was once again head-to-head with Woolworths for the top spot, Power Retail did recognise that there has been ‘considerable movement’ in the top 20 compared to 2021.

Top 20 Australian Online Retailers:

Bunnings Warehouse
Woolworths
Kmart
JB Hi-Fi
Coles
Kogan
Target
Catch
Chemist Warehouse
Myer
Officeworks
Big W
IKEA
Cotton On
Microsoft
David Jones
Temple & Webster
Spotlight
The Good Guys
Michael Hill

Notably, last year JB Hi-Fi was at 10, with the significant jump attested to its wide range of BNPL options and increased site traffic.

Michael Hill also showed a phenomenal move in rankings — from 40 to 20 — which Power Retail says comes down to its addition of click-and-collect, an improved accessibility score and additional payment options.

Power Retail chief executive Nathan Brown acknowledged that while online sales have leapt past initial predictions of where Australia’s e-commerce sector would be in five years due to COVID-19, the stellar growth of 2020 has been difficult for many to replicate.

Ally Feiam, Power Retail editor, mirrored this view, urging retailers in 2022 to “put a spotlight on ensuring their customers feel in control of their digital journey”.

One retailer recognised for putting customers at the forefront is Showpo, which won the Top User Experience and Top Social Retailer category awards.

The Top User Experience award goes to a retailer with outstanding site design and integration, and Showpo’s complete revamp of its website with UX in mind helped it snare the award ahead of finalists Cotton On and Myer.

Meanwhile, the Top Social Retailer award is for a retailer that has found great success through social media to build brand awareness, drive business growth and provide customer support. With more than 1.8 million followers on Instagram, 1.3 on Facebook and nearly 110,000 on TikTok, Power Retail says Showpo really understands the importance of connecting with its customers in social streams.

In developing the Top 100, Power Retail analyses retailer performance across four key dimensions of the consumer life cycle: acquisition, conversion, fulfilment and retention.

The 41 metrics then considered include search capabilities, shopper time on-site, accessibility, delivery options, payment options, pages viewed by session, site performance, ratio of mobile users, mobile app success, login capabilities and net promoter score.