Nike most searched online brand, Ann Summers visibility growing fastest

Nike was the UK’s most prominent e-commerce brand in 2023 with ASOS also featuring in a list of the top five most searched online brands, according to the latest annual report on the e-commerce sector by Salience.

The report analysed 11 crucial performance indicators, including year-on-year visibility, search volume trends, and brand awareness for e-commerce brands to reveal the names “dominating the industry”.

And Nike was the ‘most prominent’ with over 1.8 million brand searches a month. And with an owned social media score of 394,850, the US sportswear giant is the market leader when it comes to brand awareness within the e-commerce sector.

Although ASOS scored highly with 3.35 million brand searches, an owned social media score of 25,802 meant the online fashion retailer only secured a fifth-place rating.

Ikea followed Nike as the second most prominent brand in the sector with over 3.5 million brand searches a month and an owned social score of 65,212, thanks to its 33.7 million social media followers. 

But regarding organic visibility, the report said there has been a 28% dip in overall organic growth within the industry, “demonstrating a drop in demand for e-commerce brands”. 

Meanwhile, Salience also ranked online visibility surges of brands depending on visibility growth levels.

Top was Ann Summers, as the lingerie retailer saw a sizeable 1,258% increase, with Ray-Ban and Adidas also appearing in the top five.

The report said: “These brands are the ones to watch. They’re on the rise with the biggest growth in the market. Whatever they’re doing, search engines are loving it and you’ll want to work out what that is and emulate their strategies, fast”.

By contrast, health & beauty Boots saw the biggest drop in organic visibility, with a 58% year-on-year dip, followed by John Lewis & Partners (down 42%) with M&S and Next also listed in the top five “losers” having had the biggest traffic score declines. 

“They’re likely to have been punished by a search algorithm update or have let things slide over the course of the year. Either way, learn from their mistakes”, the report concluded.

Brett Janes, managing director at Salience Search Marketing, said: “The pandemic, followed by the cost-of-living crisis, has brought huge changes to the consumer landscape, especially for e-commerce brands.

“This drop in demand within the industry indicates a change in strategy is essential for e-commerce brands to overcome the 28% decrease in overall organic growth.”