Among worldwide banners in a Kantar study of brand value, Amazon came in as the leading retailer, and The Home Depot beat out Walmart to complete the top three retailers.
In the Kantar BrandZ Most Valuable Global Brands Report 2024, Costco and Lowe’s followed to fill out the top five, putting all of the foremost retail brands as evaluated by the market research and business services firm based in the United States.
The list immediately shifts to a more comprehensive international participation, with retailers six to 10 coming in as TMall, based in China; Ikea, based in Sweden; Aldi, based in Germany; Pinduoduo, based in China; and Mercado Libre, based in Uruguay. The next ten most valuable brands in the Kantar study are Target, Taobao, Lidl, TJ Maxx, Sam’s Club, 7-Eleven, Woolworths, eBay, Dollar General and Flipkart.
Walmart controls three retail brands in the top 20, including the company’s namesake, Sam’s Club and Flipkart banners. Some companies on the list have multinational structures, with Pinduoduo having an official headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, while it is effectively run out of Shanghai, for example. Pinduoduo is a sister company to Temu, which has become a significant presence in U.S. retailing.
According to Kantar, the top global retail banners increased their brand value by 4% in a year when low-priced purveyors did especially well. Kantar characterized this year’s retail results as a modest recovery when compared to the previous year. Stock market valuations and consumer movement away from buying habits developed in the COVID-19 pandemic hurt the standing of companies that had invested heavily in e-commerce, which are exposed to higher costs and lower profits. Price inflation has been something of a headwind to retailer brand value, Kantar noted, but the dynamic actually gave mass-market, value-oriented retailers a boost.
In the overall list, Apple, a company with a retail dimension that isn’t the basis of its brand value, was number one. Kantar noted Apple has emerged as the world’s first trillion-dollar brand. Amazon was the only retailer, at fourth place, in Kantar’s overall top brand value ranking. Kantar’s annual valuation ranking combines financial data analysis with extensive brand equity research, the company stated.
