Argos narrowly edges Tesco to claim the top spot on the Digital Capability Index (DCI), a fresh ranking by Retail Week and The Grocer that evaluates 65 major high street retailers on how well their shopping features align with what shoppers actually want. You can read the full DCI report here for more details.
Argos, a long-time pioneer of omnichannel shopping, stood out for having the most consumer-aligned features across both in-store and online experiences. The retailer is also poised to launch a marketplace as part of a multi-year transformation plan aimed at offering a broader product range and greater convenience. This combination helped Argos surpass Tesco to lead the index. “This is excellent recognition of our ongoing transformation,” commented Graham Biggart, Argos’ managing director. “We’re doubling down on great products, value, and effortless speed, and it’s rewarding to see shoppers respond.” He added that with over a billion website visits annually and a trusted brand, Argos will continue investing in more products, more convenience, and better value.
Tesco topped the supermarket segment in the DCI. As Britain’s largest retailer and the owner of the country’s largest loyalty program, Clubcard—with 24 million members and used in more than 80% of Tesco transactions—Tesco has long been an innovator. It has rolled out features such as its rapid delivery service Whoosh, a shopper membership program for online delivery savings, and an online marketplace that offers non-grocery items alongside weekly groceries.
Among grocers, seven firms appear in the DCI’s top 20. Some retailers perform well across multiple metrics—self-checkout, scan & shop, and similar features have become standard—while others excel in specific areas. Sainsbury’s ranks fifth overall and is poised to push further as it implements a broad set of technology, data, and leadership changes to support its Next Level strategy, including a stronger customer experience and improved channels of communication.
Sainsbury’s and Waitrose tied with Tesco for personalisation, while Waitrose recently announced a head office modernization focused on expanding personalisation capabilities and online presence. Lidl and Co-op score highly for customer communication, in part because they offer direct phone support, a feature that around 45% of shoppers deem essential. Marks & Spencer and Iceland stand out by offering a wide range of payment options.
Rounding out the top five are Adidas and Ikea. Argos has previously been targeted for acquisition by JD.com, the Beijing-based retailer, though talks fell apart at the eleventh hour. Argos remains notable for its sophisticated high-street shopping operation, including same-day delivery, a rarity among competitors. It also boasted the highest site visitation among tracked retailers according to Similarweb.
In a notable inclusive move, Argos and its parent brand Sainsbury’s were among the few retailers publicly advertising British Sign Language (BSL) as a customer-service option. The latest data were collected in October and November of the prior year, so Argos’ recent marketplace rollout, which would likely boost its score, isn’t reflected yet.
What the Digital Capability Index measures
Developed jointly by Retail Week and The Grocer, the DCI combines observed capabilities—such as returns policies, advertised delivery speeds, and payment options—with a representative poll of 2,000 British adults conducted by Find Out Now. Each capability is placed into one of five categories and weighted according to how much shoppers value it in the survey, producing a final score for each retailer. Instead of scoring on general order fulfilment, the index uses a dedicated grocery category for supermarkets, focusing on features like scan & shop and explicit online-delivery windows.
Beyond behavior data from Similarweb on website and app usage, the DCI looks at how well brands’ publicly advertised capabilities align with consumer priorities. The takeaway is not merely which brands are digitally strongest, but which ones shoot most accurately for what shoppers actually want.
A recurring theme from the findings is the tension between consumer expectations and practical delivery. Free online returns, for example, emerged as the most demanded online feature, a challenge for fashion retailers given the cost considerations involved. Interestingly, shoppers did not see generative AI features as a priority; only a small fraction of the population views a product-advising chatbot as important to grocery shopping. Consequently, brands that have deployed consumer-facing AI features didn’t gain notable boosts in the final scores.
The full results, methodology, and the top 30 retailer rankings are available in the published report.
