The vast majority of UK online retailers use marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay to boost their sales figures, a major study has revealed.

Research by ChannelAdvisor of 200 companies in the UK and US shows a whopping 86 per cent of online shops in the UK sell through Amazon’s marketplace, while 68 per cent sold on eBay.

The figures highlight Amazon’s dominance in the European retail space as well as smaller retailers’ growing reliance on marketplaces to advertise their products and sell to the large audiences on offer.

According to the research 43 per cent of retailers said that between 21 and 30 per cent of sales came through this route. Sites including Rakuten’s Play.com and Etsy are also playing a part in boosting sales for independent shops.

It also highlighted consumers’ growing willingness to buy through mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The figures revealed that 43 per cent of respondents said 21-to-30 per cent of sales came through such devices.

Jordan Weinstein, managing director for ChannelAdvisor EMEA, said: “The data that retailers are implementing multichannel strategies to increase their exposure in every stage of the consumer’s path to purchase.

“Retailers in the UK understand that to find success in a very crowded e-commerce landscape, they need to be visible and reaching their customers via a number of different channels.”