Many people are surprised to learn that the largest ecommerce market in Europe is the United Kingdom. Sure, it may not have the most internet users in Europe, or the largest economy - but it does have a robust ecommerce infrastructure and a huge pool of consumers who love to shop online.
The best way for brands and retailers to rapidly build a new customer base in the UK is by leveraging the reach of online marketplaces.
As the dominant force in ecommerce, there are clear strategic benefits to selling on marketplaces: it’s a proven way to break into new markets, grow sales through a wider customer base, and it requires minimal risk or upfront investment.
A snapshot of ecommerce in the UK
As Europe’s second-biggest economy, the UK also boasts the #1 ecommerce market in the European region. The reason is simple: people in the UK love shopping online, and marketplaces make it easy to find new inspiration and buy quality brands. Provided you can offer convenience and choice, there’s a good chance you can succeed in this market.
Internet penetration & ecommerce’s share of GDP
- The UK maintains extremely high digital connectivity, with an internet penetration rate of 97.8% at the start of 2025, equating to 67.8 million internet users.
- Ecommerce accounts for approximately 9.3 % of the UK’s GDP, making it one of the highest in Europe.
- UK consumers spend around 8.8 % of their annual income on ecommerce, the highest globally, with Americans and the French at approximately 4.3 % for comparison.
Market size, growth & device trends
- The UK ecommerce market was valued at around USD 265 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow at a 22.7 % CAGR through 2030.
- Mobile commerce accounted for about 55 % of online transactions in 2024 and continues to grow strongly.
- Recent figures show the online share of total UK retail revenue is between 25–30 %, consistent through 2024 and into early 2025.
Consumer expectations: Delivery, returns & behaviour
- Fast and flexible delivery is now the norm in UK ecommerce. Services such as same‑day delivery, click‑and‑collect, and diverse delivery locations are increasingly essential.
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services are gaining rapid traction—they lead growth in payment methods with over 21 % CAGR projected to 2030.
- Traditional credit cards and PayPal remain dominant in UK online spending.
- Among consumers, fashion, electronics, and home items remain the top-selling online categories.
The vital role of marketplaces in the UK
Wherever you go in the world, trust is a necessary ingredient for successful ecommerce. Customers need to know they’ll get the items they purchase - and a satisfactory solution if there’s a problem. Consumers in the UK place a lot of trust in familiar brands and names. Some of the biggest ecommerce players today are ex-high street stores that have pivoted to an online sales model, including Debenhams, John Lewis, B&Q, and Argos.
Many of these retailers are capitalizing on their trusted names by adopting a marketplace model as well. For them, it’s an easy way to extend the range available to consumers, but for you, it’s a way to hitch a ride on their trusted place in the minds of UK consumers.
Top 12 marketplaces in the UK
Today, marketplaces are where shopping begins - not just where it ends. According to the latest Marketplace Shopping Behavior Report, nearly 54% of UK shoppers start their product search on marketplaces, compared to only 18 % via search engines like Google, and just 14 % on brand websites.
Consumers don’t stick to just one site, either. On average, they explore 2–3 marketplaces in three months, and often buy from multiple platforms, according to ChannelEngine's latest marketplace shopping behaviour report. That makes a strong multichannel presence essential; selling on only one platform risks missing out on discovery and cross-traffic.
By being present on leading marketplaces - Amazon, eBay, Zalando, John Lewis, B&Q, and more - brands increase visibility at key decision stages, capture comparison shoppers, and position themselves where trust and impulse meet relevance.
Let’s take a closer look at the top marketplaces you should be selling on to capture the UK audience, understand their unique strengths, and see where your brand can thrive.
#1 Amazon
Category focus: All categories
Special features: FBA, Multichannel fulfillment (MCF), #1 marketplace in the UK, potential to cover multiple regions.
Amazon UK generated about US $38 billion in revenue in 2024, up 13% from the previous year, making it the largest online marketplace in the country. Thanks to its multichannel fulfillment services, Amazon can also act as a stepping-stone for wider multichannel growth. Consumers in the UK regularly shop on both Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com, with hundreds of millions of visits each month, making it an essential channel for any brand entering the UK market.
#2 eBay
Category focus: All categories
Special features: Dedicated brand storefronts, strong brand protection, and nearly 200 million UK visits per month.
Ebay has evolved from its origins as an auction site into a powerful B2C marketplace that UK consumers trust. With close to 200 million monthly visits from the UK alone, it is the second-largest marketplace in the country, offering brands a huge audience reach.
The marketplace supports sellers with dedicated brand spaces and advertising tools that make it easier to protect identity, maintain reputation, and stand out in competitive categories. Globally, eBay generated about US $10.28 billion in revenue in 2024, with GMV reaching US $74.6 billion.
#3 Zalando
Category focus: Fashion, Lifestyle
Special features: Europe’s leading fashion platform, GMV €17.2–17.6 B forecast (post About You), pan-EU brand reach
Zalando is Europe’s largest fashion marketplace. In Q2 2025, it posted +5% GMV growth, with group revenue up +7.3%. Following its acquisition of About You, Zalando expects GMV of €17.2–17.6 billion and revenue of €12.1–12.4 billion across the combined group. Serving over 52 million active customers across 25 countries, it is a powerhouse for fashion brands targeting European consumers.
#4 ASOS
Category focus: Fashion
Special features: One-stop fashion hub with indie brands, vintage boutiques, and seamless integration into a high-traffic retail platform
Founded as “As Seen On Screen,” ASOS launched its Marketplace in 2010, offering a curated platform for independent labels and vintage boutiques—now boasting over 900 sellers from more than 50 countries. These boutique vendors have gradually been merged into the main ASOS platform, offering seamless shopping with features like Buy the Look and Partner Fulfils for streamlined order handling.
As of mid-2025, ASOS.com receives around 45–60 million visits per month, with some estimates showing 47.4 million visits in the UK. This makes it one of the most visited fashion retail sites nationally—an ideal visibility platform for fashion sellers.
#5 John Lewis
Category focus: Fashion, Home & Family-oriented products (Homewares, Garden, Sport, Gifts, and more)
Special features: Curated and ethical brand image, trusted high-street heritage, and rapidly growing fashion marketplace
John Lewis & Partners is a trusted high‑street icon with a strong reputation for quality and integrity. It launched its fashion marketplace in mid‑2021, growing the womenswear assortment by over 50% within the first six months by adding 67 new brands. Its curated, ethical focus continues to resonate well with UK consumers. On the digital front, John Lewis draws substantial traffic: between April and June 2025, johnlewis.com attracted around 23.1 million visits per month, with users spending an average of nearly 4 minutes per visit and viewing about 6 pages. This solid engagement underscores the platform’s reach and appeal.
#6 B&Q
Category focus: DIY, Home, Garden
Special features: Rapidly expanding marketplace - 38 % of online sales, millions of new customers, 1.2 million listings
B&Q has emerged as a marketplace leader in the UK home improvement space. As of early 2024, its marketplace accounted for 38 % of total ecommerce sales, up from 22 % just a year prior, and features 1.2 million products, 1,100 verified sellers, and 3,200 brands. Notably, 50 % of those buying marketplace products had never shopped with B&Q before, greatly expanding its reach.
#7 Decathlon
Category focus: Sports, Outdoors, Fitness
Special features: Global leader in sporting goods, digital sales 20 % of total, expanding via marketplace integration
Decathlon is the world’s largest sporting goods retailer, with €16.2 billion in revenue and 20 % of sales from digital channels (online, in-store connected orders, and external marketplaces). Decathlon UK, while facing short-term challenges, remains a recognized channel for brands in fitness and outdoors. Its turnover was £260.6 million in 2024, though online sales dropped 10.2 % as it transitioned to an upgraded ecommerce platform.
#8 Mountain Warehouse
Category focus: Outdoor Clothing, Adventure Gear
Special features: Own-brand focus with 320+ marketplace partners, online channel now a third of revenue
Mountain Warehouse has seen strong recent performance, with record revenue of £450 million (a 16.4 % increase), supported by elevated profits of £33 million. Its marketplace, launched in 2022, now contributes nearly one-third of total revenue—up from just under a quarter—leveraging over 320 third-party brands (e.g. paddleboards, e-bikes) to diversify offerings.
#9 Wayfair
Category focus: Furniture, Homeware, Décor
Special features: Niche UK traffic (~10.9 million/month), large catalogue, focused operational overhaul amid sales decline
Wayfair is a well-established destination for furniture and home décor, attracting around 10.9 million visits per month in the UK. While its UK operations saw some challenges in 2024, with sales easing to £59.4 million, the marketplace continues to be a relevant and specialised channel for home goods brands.
For sellers in furniture, homeware, and décor, Wayfair offers a targeted audience, strong brand visibility, and the opportunity to reach customers who are actively searching for inspiration and higher-ticket home products.
#10 OnBuy
Category focus: All categories (British-owned challenger)
Special features: Fastest-growing UK marketplace, £150 M sales in 2024, strong AI drives
OnBuy is the UK’s home-grown, consumer-friendly alternative to global marketplaces. In 2024, it reported £150+ million in sales and £20 million gross profit, while posting ~£33 million in sales just between January and April 2025 (+50 % YoY). The platform is investing heavily in AI tooling, seller growth, and the ‘Buy British’ movement, making it a compelling option for UK-first brands and SMEs.
#11 Debenhams
Category focus: Fashion, Beauty, Home
Special features: Revived heritage brand, integrated marketplace model via Boohoo ownership
Now functioning solely as an online retailer under Boohoo (since 2021), Debenhams continues the legacy of the department store in a digital format. It offers a curated range featuring brands like Nasty Gal, Dorothy Perkins, and Warehouse. While some heritage brand appeal remains, the focus is now on an efficient, reach‑driven ecommerce model without physical stores.
#12 ManoMano
Category focus: DIY, Home Improvement, Gardening
Special features: B2C + B2B platform, 50 M monthly visitors Europe-wide, UK fastest-growing market, ~1 M UK product listings
ManoMano is a European marketplace specialising in DIY, home, and gardening products. As of 2020, the UK was its fastest-growing market, with monthly unique visitors across Europe reaching ~50 million and active customers doubling to ~7 million. ManoMano offers both a B2C channel and a tradesperson-focused B2B portal, ManoManoPro. In the UK alone, it lists around 1 million products, offering strong category-specific reach for home improvement brands.
Start strong on the top UK marketplaces
The UK offers clear potential for ecommerce growth, and marketplaces are at the heart of that opportunity. To succeed, it’s essential to start out on the right path, with the right guidance. The right approach from day one not only smooths your way to success but also helps you avoid costly missteps and missed opportunities.
At ChannelEngine, we go beyond providing a world-leading ecommerce platform. Our dedicated team of marketplace specialists helps you get the most from your product range, spot growth opportunities, and drive faster results.
When specialist services or third-party capabilities are needed, our ecosystem of strategic partners is ready to support you. From logistics to complete operational unburdening and everything in between, we connect you with the right expertise to scale your business with confidence.
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