Woolworths has been named Australia’s top online retailer by ecommerce intelligence specialist Power Retail, as reported by Business Insider Australia.

E-commerce intelligence company Power Retail revealed Australia’s Top 100 Online Retailers at its All Star Bash event in Melbourne on Thursday, with Woolies taking pole position. Fellow supermarket Coles came in second.

It comes a few weeks after Woolworths was named by Brand Finance as Australia’s most valuable brand. And just months after Woolworths admitted it had been underpaying staff by as much as $300 million in 2019.

Power Retail has been doing its Top 100 rankings annually since 2013. Its research looked at the four key components of acquisition, conversion, fulfilment and retention across more than 500 Aussie online retailers. The research also incorporated 41 separate metrics including delivery options, search capabilities, site performance and ratio of mobile users to find out where retailers are succeeding and where they can improve.

Woolworth’s win came as it ranked highly across all four key components.

Power Retail’s report explained that the customer journey starts with acquisition, with mobile performance being an important factor. The next phase is conversion – the number of people who actually buy a product – which is mostly influenced by product reviews.

“This year we’ve seen that 87% of retailers within the top 100 have product reviews on their site, while only 43% of retailers outside the Top 100 have product reviews on their site,” the report said.

“Considering our research shows that 56% of consumers read product reviews before purchasing, this really must be a focus for retailers going forward.”

Fulfilment comes next, with factors like better delivery options and multiple payment options encouraging higher conversion. And the last step is retention.

Founded in 1924, Woolies has grown to have more than 3000 stores across Australia and New Zealand. And with its online presence, the supermarket brings in 14 million customers each week, Power Retail noted.

The supermarket’s top ranking was supported by the introduction of its delivery subscription service in 2019 – which boosted online sales. Woolies also introduced a ‘Delivery Now’ option that takes on other services like Deliveroo and Uber Eats.

Following Woolies in the top ten list was Coles amid the launch of its first delivery service, as well as its partnership with UK-based retailer Sainsbury’s. The partnership was designed to help Coles boost its Own Brand range.

Bunnings, Target, Big W, The Iconic, Catch, Kmart, Chemist Warehouse and Dan Murphy’s rounded out the top ten.

Power Retail Managing Director Grant Arnott said in a statement, “Those who are investing in and capitalising on the online shopping experiences are working past the laggards.

“This year we’ve also worked to ensure that mobile performance is in focus, as more than ever this is a key indicator for success in online retail but continues to be overlooked by some retailers.”

Read the full Business Insider Report by clicking here.