According to the latest annual report on the e-commerce sector, Nike is the UK’s most prominent e-commerce brand in 2023.
The report, conducted by Salience Search Marketing, analysed 11 crucial performance indicators, including year-on-year visibility, search volume trends, and brand awareness, for e-commerce brands to reveal the names dominating the industry.
The UK’s Top 5 prominent e-commerce brands of 2023
Through analysing the number of monthly searches for each brand and calculating an owned social score which combines the number of followers and engagement rate across major social platforms for each brand, the report unveils the most prominent e-commerce brands in the sector.
| Rank | Brand | Brand searches per month | Owned social score |
| 1 | Nike | 1,830,000 | 394,850 |
| 2 | Ikea | 3,350,000 | 65, 212 |
| 3 | Samsung | 550,000 | 322,620 |
| 4 | Apple | 1,220,000 | 72,300 |
| 5 | ASOS | 3,350,000 | 25,802 |
The findings reveal Nike is the most prominent brand in the e-commerce sector. With over 1.8 million brand searches per month and an owned social score of 394,850, Nike is the market leader when it comes to brand awareness within the e-commerce sector.
Ikea follows as the second most prominent brand in the sector with over 3.5 million brand searches per month and an owned social score of 65,212 – thanks to their 33.7 million social media followers.
Regarding organic visibility, there has been a 28% decrease in overall organic growth within the industry, demonstrating a drop in demand for e-commerce brands.
Online Brand Visibility
The online visibility of brands is ranked depending on the achievement score of their growth, and based on the level of impact a decline may bring to a brand.
| Rank | Brands with the biggest growth in visibility YoY | Brands with the biggest decline in visibility YoY |
| 1 | Ann Summers | Boots |
| 2 | Halfords | John Lewis & Partners |
| 3 | The Independent Pharmacy | Marks & Spencer |
| 4 | Ray-Ban | Smyths Toys |
| 5 | Adidas | Next |
Ann Summers leads brand visibility as it sees the biggest growth in online visibility, with a sizeable 1,258% increase.
Halfords has also seen an increase in visibility, with a 9% jump.
These sizeable increases in visibility highlight a successful strategy and that the demand for e-commerce brands remains prevalent.
In contrast, popular retailer Boots sees the biggest drop in organic visibility, with a 58% decrease Year on Year.
John Lewis & Partners follows a similar fate, as it records a 42% drop.
Brett Janes, managing director at Salience Search Marketing, said: “The pandemic, followed by the cost of living crisis, has brought huge changes to the consumer landscape, especially for e-commerce brands.
“This drop in demand within the industry indicates a change in strategy is essential for e-commerce brands to overcome the 28% decrease in overall organic growth.
“However, as the new year kicks off, many Brits will be browsing sales, with this a great opportunity for brands to take advantage of this increase in demand as well as plan ahead of the financial year ahead.
“This will be a crucial time for brands within the sector to reevaluate their strategy to ensure that there is minimal loss of engagement.
“Overall, building a strong following and online presence across multiple channels becomes crucial in driving sales and capitalising on the expanding market demand.”
Full PDF report available here.
