Seven brands have been judged as Elite retailers in the second annual Internet Retailing UK Top 500 report, which examines expertise in online, mobile and multi-channel retailing, as well as social media use, engagement strategies and delivery services.

Argos, Boots, House of Fraser, John Lewis, Mothercare, Amazon and Screwfix all received the Elite accolade, with brands including Asos, Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsburys and Waitrose also singled out for acclaim.

The study uses a variety of metrics to determine expertise in areas including mobile, multi-channel, logistics and strategic planning, as well as considering more standard measurements like revenues and profit. Looking at the top 500 UK retailers, annual revenues varied between £500,000 and £43bn, with eCommerce accounting for around 13 per cent of this.

23 per cent of top 500 retailers have a transactional app, with 20 per cent offering native apps. Among the leading 100 brands, the number of stores offering nominated-time delivery has doubled over the past year, as has those offering Sunday delivery.

On social media, Facebook and Twitter have reached saturation, with 98 per cent of retailers having a presence. However, even less popular or newer social media channels still showed large figures in terms of uptake, with Google+, YouTube and Pinterest coming in at 91 per cent, 83 per cent and 66 per cent respectively.

“These Elite retailers lead the worlds most dynamic eCommerce market,” said Ian Jindal, editor-in-chief of Internet Retailing. “These are the companies that the industry will watch in order to learn what works in 21st centruy retail. Our year-round research captures the impact of new developments and changing retail practice as they happen.