Walmart again leads the 2025 National Retail Federation Top 50 Global Retailer ranking, based on results from 2024 when e-commerce gains slowed and consumers shifted a bit toward in-store shopping.
As market uncertainties stabilized in 2024, retailers in most countries enjoyed a far better year than in 2023, according to a blog post by Dave Marcotte, senior vice president of global insights and technology for business services provider Kantar, which conducted the study for the NRF. Marcotte added that solid consumer spending in the United States during 2024 gave a lift to top retailers with operations in the country.
The top 10 in NRF’s Global Retailers ranking:
- Walmart
- Amazon
- Schwarz Group
- Aldi
- Costco
- Ahold Delhaize
- Carrefour
- Seven & I
- Ikea
- The Home Depot
The Schwarz Group operates Lidl and Kaufland stores, while the main Seven & I retail business is 7-Eleven. The only difference between the Top 10 compiled in 2025 versus 2024 is Ikea and Home Depot flipping positions.
As considered by Kantar, Walmart worldwide retail sales were $676 billion, with Amazon at $393 billion and Schwarz Group at $182 billion.
Marcotte pointed out a limited but effective worldwide remodel program helped Walmart stay in the retail lead, while a pervasive and capable IT department helped it expand into a number of revenue-generating digital operations, such as the Walmart Connect retail media platform and the Walmart+ membership program. Walmart has made digital shopping tools available globally, with the offering including financial products that make online shopping accessible for lower-income shoppers, while providing flexible shopping, fulfillment and budget management.
Although retail operations helped Amazon gain in 2024, Marcotte noted the company focused more on its highly profitable business-to-business Amazon Web Services and third-party marketplace. Amazon has lately focused on profits over experimentation, which led the company to pull back on its Amazon-bannered store development and its broad private-label program, Marcotte added. Rather, Amazon is expanding fulfillment and logistics operations globally to support its core business and third-party services. Strong results from the AWS cloud group gave Amazon a stable base for capitalization and cash flow, supporting a retail media platform expansion that contributed significantly to the company’s 2024 operating margins.
Other companies based in the United States that made the Top 50 Global Retailers list include Walgreens at 11, Apple at 15, TJX at 19 and Best Buy at 34. Although Sephora is based in France, it ranked 29th on the NRF list.
