Walmart retains top ranking as largest global retailer

Walmart remains top dog in the list of global retailers examined by Kantar Consulting for international reach and revenue. The Bentonville company’s revenue totaled $510.33 billion last year.

Walmart also held the top spot in Kantar’s points-based ranking system for most international operators with 447,543 points. However, Amazon maintains its position as the largest publicly traded market capitalization, while Alibaba is world champion in sales via marketplace platforms. Amazon had 246,234 points, a distant second to Walmart, according to Ray Gaul, senior vice president of Retail Insights at Kantar.

He said Yum Brands has the largest physical presence when accounting for numbers of countries of operation. Meanwhile, in the world of virtual internationalization, British online grocer Ocado is now supplying the hardware and software that supports online grocery delivery to a list of primarily single-country retailers including Kroger in the United States, Canada’s Sobey’s, France’s Casino, Sweden’s ICA, the United Kingdom’s Marks & Spencer and Japan’s Aeon, and is actively seeking more partnerships.

Gaul said perhaps it more suiting to consider “who will be” the global leader, given the shifts in momentum and fast movers in the ranking over the past two years. The rankings are based on a retailer’s international size and investments in global marketplaces.

Gaul said the 2019 rankings look a lot like the 2018 list of top 10 with two notable exceptions. Kantar reports Chinese-based marketplace operator Alibaba jumped three places from seventh to fourth in the most recent rankings. He said Tesco has officially fallen out of the top 10 for the first time.

“The fall in Tesco’s status might be a warning signal for some other retailers that are losing ranking points. French retailers Casino and Auchan were two of the bottom five retailers in this year’s dubious “most points dropped” rankings. In total, nine of our Top 50 retailers saw points dropped from a year ago, including two other French retailers, Carrefour and Leclerc,” Gaul said.

He pointed to five retailers that have gained significant momentum in the past 12 months. Amazon tops out the rankings for the “most points gained,” with nearly two times the momentum of the next-best retailer, IKEA, which benefited from restructuring its franchise operations. He said IKEA will not likely see similar gains during this year. Lidl’s parent company, Schwarz Group, outpaced the growth of Alibaba and has held on to its top three rankings while also putting some distance between Alibaba that ranks No. 4.

Gaul also called out Costco for the slow and steady growth retailer in the Top 10 list, moving up from sixth to fifth place and also adding the fifth most points of any retailer over the past 12 months.

The 2019 Top 10 list ranked by points, which includes size and investments in online marketplaces. Company revenue is also included.

• Walmart -$510.33 billion in revenue
• Amazon -$232.88 billion
• Swartz Group (Lidl)- $123.25 billion
• Alibaba- $56.15 billion
• Costco- $149.49.35 billion
• Ahold Delhaize- $74.29 billion
• Carrefour- $89.81billion
• Aldi- $91.90 billion
• IKEA- $48.73 billion
• Auchan- $60.22 billion

Walgreens ranked No. 11 and Home Depot came in 15th using the point system. Tesco fell to No. 16. Lowes ranked No. 25 and Best Buy rank was 33rd. In the bottom third eBay ranked 38th and Gap ranked 45th. A complete list of the rankings can be found online.