AO.com beats John Lewis at Verdict's Britain’s Best Retailer Awards

AO.com has won Verdict’s prestigious Best Retailer Award for 2015, showing that selling online only is no longer a barrier to delivering great customer satisfaction.  

The electricals pureplay retailer won the accolade at Verdict’s Customer Satisfaction Awards, which were held at the Banking Hall, London this evening (18th June), preventing John Lewis from a hat-trick of wins, having won in 2013 and 2014. AO.com’s victory marks both the first time an online pureplay retailer and the first time an electricals specialist has taken the top prize.

The awards are based on two surveys of 22,000 shoppers carried out by Verdict, in which AO.com scored highly across all areas of service, with standout scores in delivery options and returns policies, price and value for money.

Patrick O’Brien, Content Director at Verdict, said: “AO.com has been pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved online. Its extensive use of video, customer reviews and detailed product information and knowledge are clearly appreciated by its customers, backed up with free next day delivery and low prices.”  

John Lewis, which was runner-up overall, still took home three awards. It came top for clothing and homewares, and also managed to beat AO.com to win in electricals, but it missed out on the Best Overall Retailer prize due to its performance in other product areas in which it operates.  

In the online awards, which were sponsored by Royal Mail, Very.co.uk came out on top, showing that the retailer’s high investment in personalisation is resonating with shoppers, while Next won the click & collect award for the second year running, despite much greater competition this year as many retailers have invested heavily in this area. 

Source : Verdict Research