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RAPAPORT... The National Retail Federation's (NRF) Stores.org revealed consumers' ''favorite 50'' online U.S. retailers of 2013. A majority of consumers again chose Amazon.com as their favorite shopping destination, followed by Walmart.com and eBay.com, all three of which maintained their top spots on this year's list. Of those websites in the favorite 50 that sell fine jewelry, consumers chose Kohls.com as their fourth favorite and Target.com as number six both of which moved ahead one spot from 2012. However, JCPenney (jcp.com) fell one place to number seven, while Macys.com and Sears.com maintained their rank at number eight and nine, respectively.  Forever21.com improved its position, moving up one to number 17, while QVC.com fell eight places to number 21 and Haband.com rose to number 22 from number 26 in 2012. Blair.com slipped one spot to number 23, Nordstrom.com moved up by one to number 24, Coldwatercreek.com slipped six places to number 35 and Express.com fell back just one spot to number 36. Roamans.com improved its standing five points to number 38 and Belk.com debuted on the favorite 50 list at number 39. Costco.com fell eight places this year to number 40, LaneBryant.com slipped four places to number 41, SamsClub.com (Walmart) debuted at 47 and Dillards.com fell six places to 48, according to Stores. In addition to asking consumers for their opinions, Shop.org and Stores Media surveyed NRF's membership regarding the retailer they most admired, taking into account the store's innovation, social responsibility, customer-centric culture, quality of products and service, supply chain efficiency, ability to capture and retain shoppers and financial soundness. In that survey, Amazon.com scored as the “most admired” retailer followed by Sephora, Poppin, ModCloth and One Kings Lane. The favorite 50 report noted that Amazon.com has maintained its top position with consumers now for seven years and of the 5,600 consumers the NRF surveyed, 58 percent labeled Amazon.com as their “most preferred online merchant” for both apparel and non-apparel items. By comparison, Walmart earned its coveted second-place spot with only 18 percent of the votes. “Amazon makes it easy for shoppers to return to the site again and again,” said Pam Goodfellow, consumer insights director at Prosper, which conducted research for Stores. “The 'Subscribe & Save' program is a good example of that. There’s one-click ordering and ship-to addresses are stored for shoppers. When something is convenient, shoppers gravitate to it.” In addition to the favorite 50 results, the survey noted that product detail page improvements, particularly video offerings, will be a priority focus for online retailers this year with 72 percent expected to invest in integrating video on their websites.
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