Amazon now claims a third of all online sales in the UK

Amazon accounted for £4 of every £100 spent in the UK last year and is now the fifth biggest retail business in the market, topping some of its highest profile department stores, GlobalData analysis has found.

Increasing its retail revenue by an estimated 22.5 per cent in the UK last year, Amazon is outpacing wider online market growth of 8.4 per cent by a factor of 2.6 and now accounts for more than a third (33.5 per cent) of all spending online.

As the fifth largest player in the market now it is only topped by Tesco, Sainsbury’s Asda and Morrisons.

It is bigger than the likes of John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Aldi, Alliance Boots and Dixons Carphone.

“Amazon is soaring up the ranks of UK retail with the online behemoth only held off the top spot by the big four grocers in 2017,” GlobalData’s senior retail analyst Sofie Willmott said.

“Its dominance in the retail market considering it primarily sells non-essential items in comparison to the grocers who benefit from selling indispensable, everyday goods, and that it does not have any physical stores in the UK, is evidence of how Amazon has continually innovated and succeeded in meeting consumer needs, in terms of both product range and shopping experience.’’

Amazon is this year celebrating its 20^th year in the UK, one of its biggest markets outside of the US and the growing point from which it has embarked on its broader European expansion over the last decade.