3 Top UK E-commerce Shares Ahead of Black Friday

The online shopping frenzy in the UK has begun! Black Friday is around the corner and hundreds of British retailers are promoting their deals online.

Consumers in the UK are expected to spend a record-breaking £9.1billion this weekend, 15% more than in 2020 when the country was in lockdown.

Retail experts are asking where this money will be spent – on the high street, or online. Analysts at GlobalData, writing for the VoucherCodes Shopping for Christmas report, said they expect online spending to go up by one-fifth, compared to Black Friday weekend last year. This prediction comes even as high street retailers have reopened following 2020’s pandemic lockdown.

With this in mind, we explore which e-commerce companies in the UK City analysts are backing, and look at their estimated website traffic to see if these companies are indeed attracting more visitors.

These ecommerce shares have a Strong or Moderate Buy rating consensus and at least 15% upside potential, according to analysts.

Best E-commerce Shares:

ASOS.com

Analyst rating consensus: Moderate Buy
Upside potential: 66.33%
YTD website traffic comparison: +18.45%

Shareholders of British online fashion giant ASOS (GB:ASC) have had a miserable year. Its share price has decreased by almost 40% over the past 12 months. October was particularly turbulent, after a warning about higher prices affecting its profits, and the sudden departure of the company’s chief executive. ASOS’s woes are not behind it, with supply-chain troubles causing it to defer orders from suppliers.

Where do the analysts stand? Of the 13 analysts who have rated the stock over the past three months, eight have given it a Buy rating, and five a Hold. The average analyst 12-month price target is a rather eye-watering 66.33%, suggesting those who say Buy believe the shares will not only recover, but will continue to rise.

Regarding ASOS’s website traffic, year-over-year traffic has increased by 18.45%. That being said, October 2021 saw 21.00% less traffic than the same month the previous year. In the graph, the turquoise line represents traffic in the most recent period, and the grey line represents last year’s traffic.

Boohoo.com

Analyst rating consensus: Moderate Buy
Upside potential: 44.64%
YTD website traffic comparison: -10.76%

Online fashion retailer Boohoo Group Plc (GB: BOO) has also seen a significant drop in its share price over the past 12 months, with a decrease of over 37%. The company recently came under fire for its factory conditions in both the UK and Pakistan. In May, shareholders were urged to block the reappointment of the company’s co-founder. Only 12% of the shareholders did so, and ultimately, she remained.

Has the company improved conditions and put the scandal behind it? It would seem so: out of seven analysts who have rated the stock in the past three months, six have said Buy. However, one, Morgan Stanley’s Miriam Adisa, downgraded the stock to Sell. The average price target indicates over 44% upside potential.

What about the company’s website traffic? Year-over-year website traffic to Boohoo.com has decreased by 10.76%. At the start of the year, the drop affected only mobile traffic, with desktop traffic increasing. However, that trend has changed, and all devices are now bringing fewer users to the site.

Tesco.com

Analyst rating consensus: Strong Buy
Upside potential: 15.95%
YTD website traffic comparison: +3.42%

Shares in the UK’s largest retailer, Tesco (GB: TSCO), have grown by almost 25% over the past 12 months. And while supermarket giants such as ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Morrison’s have traditionally been considered Tesco’s biggest competitors, that could change. In June, Edge Retail Insight predicted that by 2025, gross sales on Amazon in the UK will be higher than those of the current market leader, Tesco.

Has this research spooked analysts? It doesn’t seem so. All eight analysts who have rated Tesco in the past three months have said to Buy. Their average 12-month price target sits at over 15%.

Traffic to the Tesco website has grown by 3.42% year-to-date when compared to last year. Meanwhile, traffic to amazon.co.uk has reduced by 2.39% in the same period. 

Disclaimer: The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.