Amazon, Etsy and eBay ranked top global retailers on social beating bricks and mortar rivals
Amazon has been ranked as the top retailer in the first global retail social index, with Etsy and eBay coming a close second.
The web giant came out in first place in a study by Brandwatch, which ranked retail brands based on their visibility, sentiment and mentions. The Retail Social Index looked at over 10m interactions across platforms like Facebook and Twitter over four months and scored sellers across five categories including social visibility, engagement and content.
Out of a possible 500, Amazon scored 349 – the retail behemoth has been investing heavily in social over the past 12 months doubling down on its efforts with stunts like its live shoppable fashion show. Amazon also came out on top in terms of general visibility.
Meanwhile, Etsy and eBay clocked up 349 and 336 points respectively, both use platforms like Twitter and Facebook to provide customer service while Etsy uses initiatives such as its #EtsyGift Christmas push coupled with Pinterest boards to help sellers boost their profile on the marketplace.
Walmart and Target completed the top five with scores of 328 and 320, and the former being crowned the highest scoring bricks-and-mortar retailer in the study.
Flying the British flag for social was Debenhams which was the highest-ranking UK brand, achieving a perfect score in the social engagement and content category, pipping household names like Argos and Halfords to the post.
In terms of social networks, Facebook was the clear leader in engagement, with consumers almost three-times more likely to share branded content than they would on Twitter.
When it comes to gender, online retailer’s audiences were found to be predominantly female and in terms of engagement, women were more likely to comment on a retail brand’s social media post than men.
Commenting on the findings, Brandwatch author James Lovejoy said: “Customer service has always been core to the reputation of the retail industry, but as the number of communications channels increases, providing a quality experience for consumers is increasingly difficult.
Most retailers now will recognise the important part digital plays and that it is now imperative to develop a clear social media intelligence strategy if retailers want their customers to remain loyal advocates of their brand.”