Best Online Shops 2023
The National Retail Federation, an industry trade group, estimates that U.S. consumer spending will grow somewhere between 6 percent and 8 percent this year, to $4.86 trillion.
According to the most recent data from the U.S. Commerce Department, about 14.5 percent of that spending happens on line. To point our readers to the best Online Shops 2022, Newsweek has once again paired with respected global data-research firm Statista. We've ranked retailers according to numerous criteria important to shoppers, among them usability, security and how likely consumers said they were to make a purchase at a particular online shop.
This year our rankings recognize 1,000 shops across 39 categories. "Single brand Fashion" is the largest category this year with 80 shops recognized in the list. We found that the multiproduct retailers we defined as "universal providers" had the highest average score and the retailer faucetdirect.com had the highest score across all the dimensions we looked at.
Whatever you're shopping for, we hope you'll find our ranking helpful in finding the best place online to get it.
| Category | Rank | Online Shop | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| General | 1 | vermontcountrystore.com | 8.54 |
| General | 2 | amazon.com | 8.33 |
| General | 3 | jcpenney.com | 8.24 |
| General | 4 | heartlandamerica.com | 8.15 |
| General | 5 | hsn.com | 8.13 |
| General | 6 | qvc.com | 8.01 |
| General | 7 | macys.com | 7.99 |
| General | 8 | claires.com | 7.92 |
| General | 9 | bestbuy.com | 7.92 |
| General | 10 | shophq.com | 7.89 |
| General | 11 | bjs.com | 7.88 |
| General | 12 | target.com | 7.80 |
| General | 13 | untilgone.com | 7.73 |
| General | 14 | walmart.com | 7.69 |
| General | 15 | brandsmartusa.com | 7.67 |
| General | 16 | biglots.com | 7.66 |
| General | 17 | sharperimage.com | 7.63 |
| General | 18 | sciplus.com | 7.62 |
| General | 19 | samsclub.com | 7.62 |
| General | 20 | markandgraham.com | 7.61 |
| General | 21 | dailysale.com | 7.60 |
| General | 22 | stoneberry.com | 7.60 |
| General | 23 | store.greatergood.com | 7.58 |
| General | 24 | signals.com | 7.58 |
| General | 25 | amerimark.com | 7.55 |
| General | 26 | costco.com | 7.51 |
| General | 27 | wards.com | 7.49 |
| General | 28 | ltdcommodities.com | 7.47 |
| General | 29 | ginnys.com | 7.46 |
| General | 30 | fingerhut.com | 7.42 |
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Methodology
The Best American Online Shops were identified after passing several tests based on 51 objective and subjective criteria. Overall, 1000 online shops have been recognized in 39 categories.First, a list of more than 9,500 online shops in the United States was compiled using Statista's proprietary research database along with public online databases, online directories, and price comparison websites to identify the most relevant online shops.The online shops with the most American visitors and the highest American revenue in 2021 were selected as candidates for further evaluation. Online shops selling mainly digital goods (e.g.: airbnb.com, netflix.com), subscription-based shops, C2C marketplaces (e.g.: ebay.com), B2B online shops, showcase websites and online shops that do not display their site in English were excluded from further evaluation to allow a better comparison between the remaining candidates.
The online shops that passed the initial screening were then tested one by one in 41 objective criteria and 10 subjective criteria on 7 dimensions: Structure & Usability, Trust & Security, Service & Communication, Payment, Purchase & Delivery, Technical Performance, and Likelihood of Purchase.
Alongside the objective test, an online panel survey of more than 6,000 American online shoppers was conducted to assess the appearance of the online shops in 10 subjective criteria (e.g. "The homepage is very clear and well structured"). Dimensions were weighted according to what respondents had communicated was most important to them.
After the test phase was over, a sub-score for each dimension was calculated. Based on these results, a score out of 10 was determined for each online shop. The top 1,000 online shops with the highest scores were then awarded "Best Online Shops 2023" and listed on the Newsweek website.
The rankings are comprised exclusively of online shops that are eligible regarding the scope described in this document. A mention in the ranking is a positive recognition based on 51 subjective and objective KPIs at the time. The ranking is the result of an elaborate process which, due to the interval of data-collection and analysis, is a reflection of the period between April 2022 and September 2022. Furthermore, events following September 14, 2022, and/or pertaining to individual persons affiliated/associated with the online shops were not included in the metrics. As such, the results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations. The information provided in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information about online shops or, if possible, accompanied by a visit to an online shop. The quality of online shops that are not included in the rankings is not disputed.
You can download the complete methodology here.
