Amazon has retained its crown

The website has once again come top of the latest quarterly IMRG-Hitwise Hot Shops List of the 50 most used online retailers in the country.

It was followed by Argos, second, and Tesco.com, third, who have swapped places for the July rankings. Play came in fourth place.

IMRG, a trade body for online retail companies, said UK sales in the sector were more than �4bn in July alone.

Travel popularity

Its report put particular focus on the continuing popularity of shopping for holidays online, with travel firms now making up 18 places on the list.

MOST VISITED UK ONLINE RETAILERS (JULY) 1. Amazon UK 2. Argos 3. Tesco.com 4. Play 5. Thomson Holidays 6. Expedia 7. Easyjet 8. Apple Computer 9. Amazon USA 10. Lastminute.com Source: IMRG

These included Thomson Holidays in fifth place, Expedia in sixth, and Easyjet in seventh.

While most firms stayed in the same position, it said the biggest risers in July included Next, up to 11th from 14th in May, and Littlewoods, which advanced from 38th to 30th.

"The stability of retailers' positions on the list is extraordinary, and tells me two things: these market leaders are satisfying their customers pretty well, and competitors are having little or no effect on their progress," said IMRG's chief executive James Roper.