Amazon named UK’s most reputable retailer with Sports Direct coming last

Sports Direct's reputation decline has coincided with a dip in profits

Amazon has been named the UK’s most reputable retailer in a public survey, but could risk losing that status over work conditions and tax polices, researchers warned.

The online retail giant was ranked top for products and service, innovation, leadership and performance according to the data, compiled by the Reputation Institute.

Amazon’s score improved significantly since last year, with an 8.3 point increase. Boots came second in the ranking, followed by John Lewis.

Stephen Hahn-Griffiths, chief reputation officer at Reputation Institute, said: “Amazon’s combination of selection, value, personalisation, and no hassle customer service is a winning formula.”

However, he added: “Despite their position of strength, Amazon is faced with reputation risk based on the proposed ‘Amazon tax’ and growing criticism of working conditions in their vast distribution centres.”

Meanwhile, Sports Direct ranked as the UK’s least reputable retailer, with its score suffering a “significant decline”, dropping from 53 in 2016 to 48.4 this year. The group, which recently bought House of Fraser out of administration, performed worst on four measures in the Reputation Institute’s report: workplace, governance, citizenship and leadership.

The Institute said this score “demonstrates that there is a clear link between declining reputation and declining profits, with their poor ranking following the company announcing a 73 per cent decline in profits in July”.

Mr Hahn-Griffiths said: “Sports Direct’s overall reputation has tumbled in the past year, alongside its profits. The company recently suffered a huge backlash from investigative journalists who compared working conditions to ‘the gulag’ and the firm was investigated by MPs shortly afterwards.”

Meanwhile, the report noted the rapid rise of discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl, which both also ranked highly in the study. Researchers said this “highlights that there is a strong link between company performance, good products/services and improved reputation”.

The report also showed that consumers are increasingly wary about the ethics behind the goods they purchase, and said the UK supermarket sector was a “prime example of a subset of retailers that have adopted ethical initiatives to stand out in this fiercely competitive space”.

The top 10 retailers considered to have an excellent or strong reputation are as follows:

1. Amazon

2. Boots

3. John Lewis

4. Co-op

5. Ikea

6. Debenhams

7. Sotheby’s

8. Waitrose

9. Tiffany & Co

10. eBay