FAQ

The 208-page Top 300 Europe is a first-of-its kind ranking of the major retail chains, catalog/call center companies, consumer brand manufacturers and web-only merchants that sell online in Europe’s $182 billion business-to-consumer e-commerce market. Each retailer’s individual profile and listing is a complete set of comprehensive performance and business metrics, including annual web sales—the basis of Internet Retailer’s Top 300 Europe proprietary rankings—monthly web site visits, average ticket and conversion rate. A detailed index of URLs also breaks down the e-commerce brands operated by Europe’s biggest retailing and direct marketing companies.

Collectively, Europe is a bigger online retailing market than even the U.S., but most sales are local and consumers prefer shopping online in their home country. To identify who the major web retail players are in each diverse market and across the continent, Internet Retailer introduces the Top 300 Europe, the first ever comprehensive ranking of the 300 largest European retail web sites. Each listing is packed with financial and operational data.

Selling online in Europe is completely different than any other international web retailing markets, including the U.S. Europe is actually a series of individual e-commerce markets and each market has its own distinct shopping audience. To sell successfully online in Europe, you must know who the players are in each country, how they compete in their local market and what share of the market they control. The Internet Retailer Top 300 Europe analyzes the e-commerce sites of the 300 leading online retailing companies and breaks down the key details and operating metrics of each one.

The Internet Retailer Top 300 Europe is available for $65 plus FedEx shipping - international rates may apply, if applicable. You may order at our secure Internet Retailer Shop page by clicking here.

The starting point for data gathering is the retailers' web traffic from Compete Inc. and comScore Inc. That list is supplemented with merchants that Internet Retailer has covered. Whenever possible, web sales listed in the electronic and print versions of the Second 500 came from the company. If the company did not provide sales figures, Internet Retailer estimated sales based on traffic and assumed conversion rate for that retailer's category—as well as on analyst interviews—to formulate estimates. For monthly visits and monthly unique visitors, official numbers were supplied by many retailers. When a retailer did not reveal numbers, researchers used comScore, Compete or Internet Retailer estimates. For the conversion rate, in most instances researchers used category data and analyst interviews to formulate estimates. For the average ticket, if the merchant would not reveal a number, researchers used category data and analyst interviews to formulate estimates. In all instances where an estimate is used it is footnoted. Retailers were given multiple opportunities to review and respond to estimates.

Researchers contact each retailer several times over the course of data collection to compile, collect and fact-check each merchant's information. If the merchant did not provide full financial, operations and web site summary information, Internet Retailer used metrics from that retailer's category—as well as analyst interviews—to formulate estimates. Additional data is supplied to the Second 500 from these information partners: comScore Inc., Compete Inc. and CompuwareGomez. In all instances where an estimate is used or the data is supplied from a third-party, the figure is footnoted. Retailers were given multiple opportunities to review and respond to estimates and metrics provided by third-party research firms.

Yes. Each year as the web retailing market grows in size, new and bigger web retailers are added to the rankings while some smaller companies drop off. In the 2011 edition, the company ranked as No. 501 had annual web sales of about $13 million

The starting point for data gathering is the retailers' web traffic from comScore Inc. and Compete Inc. That list is supplemented with merchants that Internet Retailer has covered. Whenever possible, web sales listed in the electronic and print versions of the Top 500 came from the company. If the company did not provide sales figures, Internet Retailer estimated sales based on traffic and assumed conversion rate for that retailer's category - as well as on analyst interviews - to formulate estimates. For monthly visits and monthly unique visitors, official numbers were supplied by many retailers. When a retailer did not reveal numbers, researchers used comScore, Compete Inc. or Internet Retailer estimates. For the conversion rate in most instances researchers used category data and analyst interviews to formulate estimates. For the average ticket and if the merchant would not reveal a number, researchers used category data and analyst interviews to formulate estimates. In all instances where an estimate is used, it is footnoted. Retailers were given multiple opportunities to review and respond to estimates.

Researchers contact each retailer several times over the course of data collection to compile, collect and fact check each merchant's information. If the merchant did not provide full financial, operations and web site summary information, Internet Retailer used metrics from that retailer's category - as well as analyst interviews - to formulate estimates. Additional data is supplied to the Top 500 from these information partners: comScore Inc., Compete Inc., Conductor Inc., ForeSee, Hitwise and Silverpop Systems Inc. In all instances where an estimate is used or the data is supplied from a third-party, the figure is footnoted. Retailers were given multiple opportunities to review and respond to estimates and metrics provided by third-party research firms.

Yes. Some retailers such as Amazon.com will be in each annual issue. But each year as the web retailing market grows in size, new and bigger web retailers are added to the rankings while some smaller companies drop off. In the 2011 edition, the company ranked as No. 500 had annual web sales of $11.6 million while the cut off in 2009 for No. 500 was $10.5 million.

The Internet Retailer Top 300 Europe is available for $65 plus FedEx shipping - international rates may apply, if applicable. You may order at our secure Internet Retailer Shop page by clicking here.

The newly compiled annual information for all Top 500 retailers included in the 2012 edition will be uploaded and available to subscribers in early May. Data and profiles for individual retailers are updated throughout the year. Updates may include newly released quarterly web sales, new vendor relationships and newly hired or promoted executives.

The newly compiled annual information for all Second 500 retailers included in the 2012 edition will be uploaded and available to subscribers this summer. Data and profiles for individual retailers are updated throughout the year. Updates may include new vendor relationships and newly hired or promoted executives.