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Amazon has maintained its position as the lowest-priced online retailer in the U.K. for the sixth consecutive year, according to Profitero+’s latest Price Wars study. The annual report — which tracks prices on more than 7,500 products across major U.K. online retailers — found that Amazon’s average prices were 16% lower than competitors’, widening its lead by 1 percentage point versus last year.
Amazon’s leading position was especially strong in wellness categories, where specialist retailer Boots saw its price gap increase by 5 percentage points in beauty and vitamins & supplements, and 4 percentage points in health & personal care. Asda was the only major grocer to reduce its gap with Amazon in these categories, narrowing the difference in beauty from 19% to 17%.
While Amazon maintained a substantial lead in essentials, other retailers performed strongly in select categories such as fashion. Asos and Zalando narrowed their price gaps by 8 and 7 percentage points, respectively, while Next achieved a modest 1 percentage point improvement. Argos, however, bucked the trend, with its price gap to Amazon widening by 3 percentage points.
Sports & Outdoor Supplies
Amazon extended its lead in sports & outdoor supplies from 8% to 13%, leaving electronics as the only remaining category with a single-digit average price difference (9%).
Packaged Foods & Alcohol
Asda was the only major grocer to reduce its price gap with Amazon in packaged foods & alcohol, tightening from 10% to 8%. Other grocers -- Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado - saw gaps widen
Electronics
Very became more competitive in electronics, narrowing its price gap with Amazon from 17% to 10%. This shift pushed Argos down to fourth place, as its own gap widened slightly from 10% to 11%. Meanwhile, John Lewis maintained its “never knowingly undersold” positioning, with the lowest price gap in the category at 3% — a 1 percentage point improvement year over year.
Toys & Games
Reflecting its electronics performance, Argos saw its toys & games price gap with Amazon widen from 13% to 17% — notably higher than Smyths Toys (3%) and Very (8%), both of which held steady year on year.
“Talk of tariffs is reigniting consumer concern about rising prices. As the holidays approach, consumers will flock to the retailers that consistently offer the best deals and everyday value,” said Mike Black, Chief Growth Officer at Profitero+.
Download a copy of this report to understand where shoppers expect to find the best deals ahead of the holiday season, which categories are the most competitive, and which retailers have earned the highest low price reliability.
NOTES
Only identical items available and in-stock in the same pack configuration were compared. Data was collected daily over 12 weeks (7 July - 29 Sep, 2025), with daily prices averaged over the full period for comparison. Prices for the same items were collected within 24 hours of each other to ensure validity of the comparisons. To refer to past Profitero+ Price Wars studies, please go to profitero.com/resources.
Retailers featured in the study included: Amazon, Argos, Asos, Boots, Currys, B&Q, Asda, Morrisons, John Lewis, Next, Ocado, Sainsbury’s, Smyths Toys, Sports Direct, Tesco, Very, Zalando & Zooplus
