70 Leading Retailers’ Lighthouse Scores Revealed

Online retailers need to improve site performance and accessibility but they are optimized for search engines based on an audit of 70 recognizable retail websites.

On June 9 and 10, 2018, I ran each of 70 well-known ecommerce websites through Google’s Lighthouse, a free monitoring tool. It rates sites on five areas:

• Performance,
• Progressive web app compatibility,
• Accessibility,
• Best practices,
• Search engine optimization.

For each audit, I used the Chrome browser with Lighthouse built in. The audit was run on a product detail page. I conducted the all of the tests from an Apple MacBook Pro with a 50 Mbps wireless internet connection.

Here are the key takeaways.

SEO

Collectively, the 70 retail sites reviewed scored an average of 86.4 out of 100 on the Lighthouse search engine optimization audit. REI, John Lewis, and The Sill each scored a perfect 100. Tractor Supply, the billion-dollar farm supply retailer, had the lowest SEO score in the group. But was still a 67.

The Lighthouse SEO audit measures 10 basic factors, including the presence of a title element and the use of a meta description. This is likely an indication that retailers are, generally, focused on SEO.

This focus may take a few forms. For example, online retailers may be choosing ecommerce platforms or solutions that have basic default SEO features. Or they may have SEO basics covered regardless of the platform.

Performance

Unfortunately, most of the retailers had poor performing — i.e., slow — websites, according to Lighthouse. The average performance score was a 22.1 out of 100. B&H Photo had the best performance score of the 70 sites audited with a 59. Hudson’s Bay Company and Sears each scored a zero.

Lighthouse checks 23 performance indicators and emphasizes mobile performance versus desktop. Thus during its audit Lighthouse throttles throughput to mimic mobile connections.

This fact aside, retail sites need to find ways to load information more quickly.

One of the most common performance challenges was loading images not visible to the user. Lighthouse calls these “offscreen” images, explaining that “since users can’t see offscreen images when they load a page, there’s no reason to download the offscreen images as part of the initial page load. In other words, deferring the load of offscreen images can speed up page load time and time to interactive.”

In contrast to SEO, one could assume performance is largely ignored or considered to be good enough. This is unfortunate for the poor performing sites, but an opportunity for other retailers.

You could run your own Lighthouse audit. Follow up on the performance suggestions and provide a better customer experience than most of the 70 sites I checked, which I’ve listed below.

Accessibility

Web accessibility describes how well people, including people with disabilities, can interact with a website. Providing an open, available, and navigable website for shoppers, regardless of disability, is simply good business for ecommerce retailers.

The 70 ecommerce sites audited with Lighthouse, however, managed an average of just 60 out of a possible 100 for accessibility.

Lighthouse can only measure a few aspects of accessibility. So it is not necessarily a reflection of how accessible each site actually is or whether these sites might be violating laws requiring web accessibility.

However, the aspects of accessibility that can be automatically tested with a tool such as Lighthouse are items a site should be able to get right.

For your own website, make certain you’re providing ways for folks with disabilities to access your pages and products. As mentioned above, being able to service and sell to all consumers is good business. But there may also be legal concerns.

“In 2017, plaintiffs filed at least 814 federal lawsuits about allegedly inaccessible websites, including a number of putative class actions,” wrote Minh N. Vu and Susan Ryan of law firm Seyfarth Shaw in a January 2018 article.

New York and Florida were most likely to see the federal filings, with 335 and 325 cases respectively.

Best Practices

Google Lighthouse also reviews 19 website best practices. On average, the 70 sites review scored 60.98 out of a possible 100.

The Adidas website followed these best practices the most, scoring an 88 in the Lighthouse audit. Bass Pro Shops earned the lowest score for the category at 31.

Lighthouse changes its tests for best practices as the state of web technology and web development evolves. Thus scoring well here can be a good indication of maintaining current standards.

Progressive Web Apps

The last Lighthouse category to consider is conformity with progressive web apps.

PWAs give mobile shoppers an app-like experience via the web browser. PWAs can place icons directly on a mobile phone’s home screen and include push notifications or easy checkout. All of these features can be an advantage for an ecommerce business.

Hence, think of this score as a measurement of how close a site is to receiving PWA status.

On average, the 70 sites audited scored a 44 out of 100 for PWA conformity. The top score, 82, went to Build.com, meaning that site might have relatively little work to do to begin enjoying the benefits of a PWA.

Here is a list of how each of the 70 sites scored.

Retailer	Performance	PWA	Accessibility	Best Practices	SEO	Average
Adidas	28	73	47	88	90	65.2
AliExpress	24	45	52	75	90	57.2
Amazon	24	45	71	69	90	59.8
American Eagle Outfitters	9	45	54	56	90	50.8
Apple	17	45	82	81	90	63
Argos	13	27	56	50	90	47.2
ASOS	14	36	49	50	90	47.8
AutoZone	45	36	67	63	90	60.2
B&H Photo	59	45	35	69	90	59.6
Bass Pro Shops	6	45	75	31	90	49.4
Beardbrand	6	45	52	63	80	49.2
Best Buy	2	36	81	63	90	54.4
Build.com	13	82	56	63	100	62.8
Chewy	24	45	55	69	90	56.6
Costco	11	45	72	56	90	54.8
Crate & Barrel	23	45	64	63	90	57
Crutchfield	50	55	55	56	90	61.2
CVS	19	27	69	63	90	53.6
Dell	9	27	59	38	80	42.6
Dick’s Sporting Goods	9	36	82	44	80	50.2
Dollar Tree	45	45	74	50	80	58.8
Ebay	22	45	72	56	90	57
Etsy	41	45	50	69	90	59
Foot Locker	3	36	56	38	80	42.6
GameStop	9	27	73	50	80	47.8
H&M	25	27	38	69	80	47.8
Hayneedle	13	45	61	38	90	49.4
HP	4	45	76	50	80	51
Hudson’s Bay Company	31	27	0	44	80	36.4
J.C. Penney	19	55	53	63	90	56
JD.com	10	27	48	63	89	47.4
John Lewis	14	45	60	69	100	57.6
Kohl’s	5	45	42	44	90	45.2
L.L.Bean	21	45	46	50	70	46.4
Lowe’s	22	45	52	44	80	48.6
Macy’s	32	45	82	63	90	62.4
Marks & Spencer	33	45	41	63	90	54.4
Meijer	0	45	33	63	89	46
Mulberry	38	45	75	69	90	63.4
Musician’s Friend	18	27	63	56	80	48.8
Neiman Marcus	50	55	79	75	90	69.8
Newegg	25	45	44	81	90	57
Nike	24	45	63	56	80	53.6
Nordstrom	29	45	60	69	90	58.6
Northern Tool	22	45	51	63	80	52.2
Office Depot	21	45	57	81	90	58.8
Overstock	37	45	59	75	80	59.2
PetSmart	7	45	43	69	70	46.8
Rakuten	11	45	63	63	90	54.4
REI	47	45	91	81	100	72.8
Rite Aid	11	45	68	44	90	51.6
Rogue Fitness	42	45	64	63	90	60.8
Sears	0	36	49	38	80	40.6
Sephora	54	45	47	56	90	58.4
Staples	7	45	32	63	90	47.4
Suitsupply	46	55	52	81	78	62.4
Suning.com	41	36	34	56	80	49.4
Target	42	55	91	81	80	69.8
Tesco	6	45	65	69	90	55
The Gap	11	45	65	63	90	54.8
The Home Depot	19	45	64	75	90	58.6
The Sill	12	45	66	56	100	55.8
TigerDirect	45	36	59	63	80	56.6
Tractor Supply	17	27	50	63	67	44.8
Urban Outfitters	24	45	88	63	80	60
Victoria’s Secret	20	45	81	63	78	57.4
Walmart	11	36	67	56	80	50
Walgreens	30	45	83	63	90	62.2
Wayfair	18	45	87	63	90	60.6
Williams Sonoma	10	73	66	56	90	59