Amazon Feels the Heat as Argos Tops Search Chart for Cooking Appliances

LONDON, March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

Amazon UK relegated to fourth position as Appliances Online jumps four places to rank second and Tesco moves up a notch to take third spot

UK web search volumes for cooking appliances in February surged 5% on the previous quarter and at the expense of refrigeration, dishwasher and laundry products, reveals the latest quarterly research from leading independent digital marketing agency, Greenlight.

Data from the agency's latest 'White Goods Sector Report - Issue 16', which profiled consumer search behaviour in this sector, found  that in February, a  total of 784,000  searches were made on Google UK for dishwashers, laundry, cooking and refrigeration products, a 5.5% decline on November's total of 830, 000.

Cooking appliance-related searches on the up

Cooking appliances were the only subsector to see an increase in the volume of search traffic, which increased from 253,232 in November to 265,988 in February making up a 34% share of all white goods-related search queries, up from 30% the previous quarter.

'Microwave' was the most popular keyword accounting for 8% (22,000) of all searches made for this subsector. 'Cookers', 'Microwave oven', 'Slow cooker' and 'Gas cookers' followed with 14,800 searches apiece.

Cooking appliances - Argos maintains leads, Amazon UK slides down the ranks

Greenlight's report also ranked the most visible sites for cooking appliances in Natural Search and Paid Media based on how visible they were for the most popular keyword searches.  

Argos topped the table, attaining a 36% share of voice in Natural Search. It was visible to 88,341 cooking appliance-related searches.

Amazon UK, which the previous quarter ranked second behind Argos, was relegated to fourth position as Appliances Online moved up three places to take second spot whilst Tesco moved up a notch to rank third.

Paid Media-wise, John Lewis was the most visible advertiser achieving an 84% share of voice. Argos and Currys followed with 71% each.

White Goods - Currys the most visible site

For white goods overall, Currys, Appliances Online, John Lewis, Argos and Tesco were the top five performers as they achieved strong visibility across both the Natural Search and Paid Media mediums (integrated search).

Interestingly, Greenlight's report found twenty (compared to fourteen in the previous quarter), of the forty most visible sites for white goods in February, relied solely on the visibility gained in the paid listings to attract searcher consideration, achieving no visibility in the Natural Search listings. They included the likes of eBay and brands such as Panasonic, Russell Hobbs and Smeg.  

Notes to Editors

About Greenlight:

Greenlight is a leading independent digital marketing agency, providing Search and Social Media services. With over 100 blue-chip clients including Santander, Sky and ghd, Greenlight is a leader in the digital marketing space, and is recognized worldwide for its commitment to delivering record ROI for its clients and investing in the future.

Greenlight is considered the premier thought leader in the sector publishing widely read industry reports, original research and speaking at trade events. Founded in 2001, Greenlight is headquartered in London, with offices in New York. http://www.greenlightdigital.com