Internet Retailer has a feature article on Hot 100 Retail websites. The websites were rated using Gomez performance testing methodology on metrics such as Response Time, Availability and Consistency. Measurements were calculated 24 hours a day from October 29, 2007, through November 6, 2007.

Here`s the bottom line about being a market leader: It`s not just about the bottom line.Market leaders in e-commerce stand out in the crowd because, among other things, they are innovative and engaging, create striking and effective site designs, do something critical such as site search better than the rest, take risks on new concepts and technologies such as social networking and Ajax, set trends such as m-commerce rather than wait and see, and know their customers extraordinarily well, exceeding their desires and needs. These are among the qualities, which ultimately can lead to a healthy bottom line, that vaulted e-retailers into the Hot 100.

One good thing you can see out of this study is what technology/vendors are these Retailers using. For e.g. Ace Hardware uses GSI Commerce's Order Management software, Home Depot uses Escalate Inc's, AE.com and JCrew uses Art Technology Group Inc etc.