Retail chains website statistics

Every number on this sheet was measured, not surveyed: one HTTPS request per homepage across 17 large US retail chains sites (35 sampled; 18 excluded for refusing an automated request), no JavaScript executed.

Rev A — 2026-07-29n = 17dataset (JSON)

Read this before the numbers

sampling limit

Read this as a floor, not a sector

51% of the sampled chains refused a plain HTTPS request — the highest refusal rate of any vertical measured here, and higher even than the DTC sample. What survives is 17 homepages: the chains willing to answer a non-browser client. That is a real and interesting population, but it is not the retail sector, and no figure on this page should be read as one. The refusal rate itself is the most reliable number here.

The numbers

measured 2026-07-29

297 msmedian server response

Half of the 17 measured homepages return their first byte within this time; the slowest takes 8888 ms.

833 KBmedian HTML delivered

Size of the delivered document before any subresource loads. 16 of 17 serve it compressed.

76%ship a known tracker

13 of 17 homepages reference a recognised analytics or advertising tracker in the delivered HTML.

11median third-party domains

The median homepage references this many distinct external domains before any interaction.

59%surface a consent mechanism

Only 10 of 17 expose a detectable consent platform — yet 15 set a cookie before any choice is possible.

71%expose a main landmark

12 of 17 provide a main landmark for assistive technology; 7 ship no first-level heading at all.

Explore every row

live explorer

Median trackers1

≥1 tracker13/17

Any consent signal10/17

01Office Depot25/1003rd-party42trackers4pre-cookies20
02Staples43/1003rd-party5trackers8pre-cookies19
03eBay45/1003rd-party19trackers0pre-cookies19
04Costco49/1003rd-party21trackers2pre-cookies8
05Nike49/1003rd-party18trackers2pre-cookies5
06Sephora62/1003rd-party3trackers1pre-cookies18
07Barnes & Noble62/1003rd-party14trackers2pre-cookies1
08Walmart64/1003rd-party5trackers4pre-cookies2
09Dollar General69/1003rd-party23trackers0pre-cookies0
10Lowe's72/1003rd-party3trackers1pre-cookies24
11Ulta Beauty72/1003rd-party11trackers1pre-cookies5
12Michaels75/1003rd-party13trackers1pre-cookies2
13IKEA76/1003rd-party11trackers1pre-cookies3
14Foot Locker81/1003rd-party7trackers0pre-cookies0
15Old Navy81/1003rd-party4trackers1pre-cookies5
16Gap84/1003rd-party2trackers1pre-cookies5
17Nordstrom88/1003rd-party0trackers0pre-cookies1

17 of 35 large US retail chains homepages · measured 2026-07-29 · score = transparent composite of the raw signals in each row

The statistics above are recomputable from this table — switch dimensions to re-rank the sector.

Against the other sectors

identical method

Share of homepages referencing a recognised analytics or advertising tracker in the delivered document.

B2B SaaSn = 3385%

AI platformsn = 3379%

Developer toolsn = 3376%

Fintechn = 2868%

Healthcaren = 2948%

DTC ecommercen = 2090%

Retail chainsn = 1776%

Healthcare holds the best posture here — 48% against 85% and 79% and 76% and 68% and 90% and 76%.

Lower is better · all sectors measured with the same script and method · 2026-07-29

Every measured sector, one metric at a time. The ordering changes with the metric — which is the point.

Every exclusion, named

18 of 35

Target — HTTP 429 (automated request blocked)Kroger — connection error (Command failed: curl -sS -L --max-time 25 --max-redirs 5 --compressed -A Mozilla)Home Depot — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Best Buy — connection error (Command failed: curl -sS -L --max-time 25 --max-redirs 5 --compressed -A Mozilla)Macy's — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Kohl's — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Wayfair — HTTP 429 (automated request blocked)Chewy — HTTP 429 (automated request blocked)Etsy — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)REI — connection error (Command failed: curl -sS -L --max-time 25 --max-redirs 5 --compressed -A Mozilla)Dick's Sporting Goods — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Petco — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)AutoZone — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Tractor Supply — connection error (Command failed: curl -sS -L --max-time 25 --max-redirs 5 --compressed -A Mozilla)Five Below — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Williams-Sonoma — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Crate & Barrel — HTTP 403 (automated request blocked)Bath & Body Works — HTTP 307

One request per homepage. No JavaScript executed, nothing simulated — only what any client can observe.

Read the methodology