Although there are thousands of online stores selling everything you could possibly dream of a huge chunk of the online shopping market share can be seen with just a few of the online stores in the UK. The growth of online shopping, benefits from the likes of promotion codes and marketplaces which allow the smaller independent sellers to also sell on the website does mean that these big stores are continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Here are five of just some of the largest online stores in the UK as found by Hitwise statistics.

1. Amazon

Amazon making this list should come as no surprise to many, starting out as a book store there is now very little that is not sold on Amazon.co.uk from books to clothing, electronics and now even food! Amazon has consistently been the largest online store in the UK for several years and it is set to stay this way. The Kindle and therefore resulting ebook sales is just one contributing factor alongside many customer incentives such as Amazon Prime which encourage the customer to keep shopping with Amazon.

2. Argos

For the past 2 years now Argos has been the second biggest online retailer in the United Kingdom and this can be attributed to its multi channel approach and visibility on the high street. Argos boasts a huge range of 45000 products from home wares and electronics to toys and games. The reservation function is incredibly useful for those who want to collect their shopping within a few hours of shopping online.

3. Apple

Apple, the home to the iPhone, the iPod and the iMac, some of the bestselling electronics in the World is the UK’s 3^rd largest online store. Although the online store with the smallest number of products available it delivers consistently in sales of these products. The regular releases of new products such as the recent iPad Mini and the iPhone 5 can be attributed to the regular boosts in consumers heading to the Apple site.

4. Tesco

Tesco.com covers the two main sections of the site; Tesco Direct and Tesco Grocery. Tesco is one of the biggest supermarkets when it comes to food and this is combined with the Tesco Direct service which works in a similar way to Argos with thousands of products ready to click and collect in a matter of hours in hundreds of stores across the country.

5.Next

Next.co.uk making it into the top 5 biggest online retailers in the UK according to Hitwise therefore makes it the UK’s biggest fashion retailer. Why is Next so popular? Perhaps the combination of quality products, hugely popular end of season sales which at the very least take 50% off the cost of the products and of course the next day delivery as standard for orders up to 9pm.