Melbourne tops Sydney in shopping survey

Sydney still can't compete with Melbourne when it comes to shopping.

The southern city has smashed Sydney in a national survey to be crowned the premier shopping destination in the country for the second year running.

The annual Shop Til You Drop magazine survey of 3,000 shopping enthusiasts found that 73 per cent viewed Melbourne as the best shopping area in Australia, compared with 23 per cent who thought Sydney was better.

Brisbane was third, followed by Perth, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.

Shop Til You Drop deputy editor Danielle DeGail said Melbourne offered an experience that other cities couldn't match.

And, it had many more fashion precincts such as Chapel Street, South Yarra, Flinders Lane - in the city - but also new up-and-coming areas such as High Street, Armadale, she said.

"Melbourne is still seen as the fashion capital because there's so many boutiques there and lots of different areas," Ms DeGail said.

"It has really got a bit of an international feel, in the little lanes you could almost be in Rome, but you're in Melbourne."

In the battle of the retailers, the survey found that Myer was a notch above David Jones.

Myer won the award for best retail chain, window displays and customer service.

But David Jones won the award for favourite change rooms and also had the best revamp.

Ms DeGail said that readers found Myer a lot more like an international department store because it was very spacious.

"It really is a one-stop-shop - so you can get your cheaper brands but there's also top Australian designers and even international designers there now," she said.

"Our readers found that the service was helpful but not overbearing."

In other results, furniture superstore Ikea made its first appearance in the survey, which is in its second year.

It took out the gong for best lifestyle home store, and was a finalist in the best new innovation or most unique retail experience category.