Amazon has retained its position as the UK’s most popular online retailer, according to the IMRG Hotwise Hot Shops List of the 50 most popular internet merchants.

High-street retailer Argos has replaced Tesco in second place, just three months after losing that position, while Play.com and Thomson Holidays complete the top five.

IMRG, the trade body for online retailers, said there was little movement up or down the list and only six new entrants in the quarterly rankings.

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

Online retailing has grown significantly in 2007, up 80 per cent on last year to more than £4bn in July.

Shopping for holidays online remains popular with consumers, with travel firms making up 18 places on the list, including Expedia (sixth) and easyJet (seventh).

High-street fashion chains did well such as Next (up from 14th to 11th) and Littlewoods (up from 38th to 30th), while cinema chains Odeon and Vue benefited from the wet weather with big gains.

‘Successful summer sales can help retailers drive traffic to their web sites,’ said Hitwise director of research Robin Goad.