Best tech and appliance shops 2025 – Which?

Looking for a new dishwasher, laptop or hi-fi? Find the best stores for home appliances and tech products based on real shoppers’ experiences.

We asked thousands of shoppers about their experiences of buying in-store and online from big and lesser-known retailers. 

Here, we reveal the best stores for items big and small:

Shopping for something else? We’ve also reviewed homeware and DIY shops and baby retailers.

Best tech shops

Here’s the breakdown of our ratings for tech shops selling TVs, speakers, laptops and more. Links take you to retailers’ websites.

Richer Sounds

Richer Sounds’s products, prices and customer service are second to none. The audio-visual specialist has 51 shops across the UK and consistently lands the top spot in our tech table.

It’s also the only retailer to get the maximum five stars for value for money. Perhaps that’s because its market-leading price guarantee promises to beat competitors’ deals by up to £100. 

One shopper said: ‘Their customer service is better than any other company’ – no wonder it also got full marks for its customer service during the buying process.

Richer Sounds is a Which? Recommended Provider (WRP) thanks to its excellent customer score, star ratings and returns policies.

John Lewis

The department store achieved the second-highest customer score for tech purchases, and clinched full marks for customer service during the buying process as well as product quality and delivery.

Lots of shoppers praised John Lewis’s ‘knowledgeable’ and ‘helpful’ staff. One added: ‘The whole service is still the best in the business.’

The John Lewis Partnership’s new chairman, former Tesco boss Jason Tarry, recently relaunched the chain’s ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ price promise after it was scrapped two years ago. It also offers a two-year guarantee on all electricals and five years on TVs, included in the price.

John Lewis is a WRP for both tech and home appliance purchases.

Apple

Customers in our survey applauded Apple’s high-quality, reliable tech products and its technical support. Lots of shoppers said they’d taken advantage of the free, appointment-based support available at stores, reporting that ‘friendly’ and ‘patient’ sales assistants advised them on the most suitable product and helped with setup. 

Although it came third in our tech retailers table, Apple isn’t a WRP because it only got two stars for value for money – unsurprising given that its products tend to be pricier than those of competitors.

Samsung

Customers told us Samsung’s website and delivery service are as slick as its products. Several mentioned the discount they’d received after trading in their old tech or home appliance, while others were impressed by the expertise of the sales assistants in Samsung’s sleek ‘experience stores’. 

Despite achieving an excellent customer score of 81% for tech purchases and a decent value-for-money rating, Samsung isn’t a WRP because its returns and faulty-goods policies didn’t meet our high standards.

Costco

The members-only wholesaler is best known for selling giant packs of everyday items, but it also stocks household appliances and tech products. As well as traders, certain professions are eligible to join Costco – including NHS workers and teachers – for £33.60 a year, and anyone can buy an online-only membership for £15 a year. 

It’s not usually possible to try before you buy, but customers love the deals, good-quality products and relaxed returns policy – including 90 days to return electronic items.

Ebuyer

This Yorkshire-based online shop, which started out selling computer components, is now the UK’s leading independent electrical retailer. 

Ebuyer has risen up our tech stores ranking over the past couple of years: customers like its comprehensive catalogue of 40,000 tech products, user-friendly website and efficient delivery service. It offers price matching within seven days of purchase, although the difference is refunded as store credit. 

Best home appliance shops

Whether you’re looking for a fridge or a vacuum cleaner, you’ll find the best shop for the job in the table below. 

John Lewis

John Lewis tops our home appliances table, earning the full five stars for the quality and range of its products, delivery and its after-sales and returns service.

Several customers who’d purchased white goods applauded the department store’s installation service. One added: ‘Always a smooth process; often the best value for money.’ 

Online customers generally found the website easy to use thanks to detailed descriptions of the products and helpful reviews from other buyers.

Marks Electrical

The UK’s fastest-growing electricals retailer is primarily an online operation with a Leicester-based showroom, selling a wide variety of home appliances and TVs.

Customers gave Marks Electrical the full five stars for its product range and quality and praised its competitive prices and in-house installation service. One said: ‘Its delivery people are very friendly and take good care when installing the new product and removing the old one.’ 

Although it came second in our table of home appliance stores, with an 87% customer score, it isn’t a WRP as we think its returns policies could be improved.

AO

This Bolton-based online retailer sells £1bn of electrical goods every year – everything from electric toothbrushes and laptops to white goods and lawnmowers. Customers have rated AO consistently highly for home appliance purchases. Its reasonable prices, easy-to-use website and speedy seven-day-a-week delivery service came in for particular praise. 

AO is a WRP for home appliances, but not for tech purchases, as it didn’t get good-enough star ratings in this category. 

Euronics

Its 600 UK shops operate as independent businesses – many of which have been around for generations – but this Europe-wide network has the buying power and competitive prices of a big corporation. 

Many shoppers spoke highly of the knowledgeable staff at their local Euronics shop. One explained: ‘[It’s] a well-established high street store selling goods at online prices, but with real people ready to answer everything face to face. Why would I go anywhere else?’ 

Euronics is a WRP and was one of only two home appliance retailers to get five stars for after-sales service and returns (along with John Lewis), but was rated a middling three stars for value. If you shop online, your purchase will be sent from a nearby store

Lakeland

This 60-year-old kitchenware and homeware retailer is a WRP and has the most generous returns policy we’ve come across: if you’re not satisfied with a product or it’s faulty, you can return it for a refund or replacement up to three years after you bought it.

Customers love this market-leading three-year guarantee, as well as Lakeland’s durable products and reliable service. One satisfied shopper told us: ‘Customer service is top quality in store and on the phone – a real person answers within seconds.’ 

Amazon

The UK’s biggest-selling retail site isn’t a WRP because it scored only three stars for customer service during the buying process and for its after-sales service. One shopper commented: ‘Amazon has a good refund policy, but it is very difficult to get past the automated chatbot.’ 

That’s unlikely to deter Amazon’s legions of fans, who awarded it four stars for value for money and the full five stars for delivery in both categories. It also scored highly for product quality, which is impressive given that it lists millions of items from third-party sellers as well as its own products. 

Argos

Shoppers love how convenient Argos is. Now the second-biggest general merchandise site in the UK, it aims to rival Amazon on speed, offering same-day delivery to 90% of the UK if you order before 5pm (for a fee of £5.95).

Alternatively, there’s a free click-and-collect service – if you don’t have an Argos store nearby, you can pick up from your local Sainsbury’s. Argos also received four stars for value for money in both categories, but only managed a mediocre three stars for its after-sales and customer service

How we choose Which? Recommended Providers

Every year, we survey thousands of Which? members and members of the public about their experiences of shopping with some of the UK’s best-known stores and websites, as well as with lesser-known brands. 

Our star ratings reveal how customers rated each retailer on a range of different measures from product range and value for money to customer service during and after purchase. 

We also name Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs) for each category. Retailers must meet strict criteria to make the grade, including excellent customer scores and at least four stars for customer service and delivery, plus three for value for money.

We also check their returns policy and T&Cs; any retailers that give unclear or misleading information about returns are excluded.