The Supply Side: Kantar names Walmart the top retailer among trading partners
Walmart is again the top retailer ranking among its trading partners in 2024, according to Kantar’s PoweRanking report, which includes qualitative and quantitative research for dozens of retailers and suppliers.
It was the 28th consecutive year the Bentonville-based retail giant received the top ranking. The annual benchmarking report identifies retailers and manufacturers/suppliers that set the standard of performance, ranked by their trading partners.
Kantar Vice President Rohan Mazumdar said Walmart retained the top spot because of its continued ability to grow and scale despite economic turmoil, while also focusing on strengthening its relationship with shoppers.
The top five retailers on this year’s PoweRanking list remained the same as last year, though a few changes were noted. Target and Kroger switched places to No. 2 and No. 3, respectively. Manufacturers credit Target’s shopper experience and Kroger’s use of data analytics and customized offers for the top rankings. Ranking fourth and fifth, respectively, were Costco and Amazon, which traded places from a year ago.
“It’s a significant accomplishment for brands to be recognized in Kantar’s PoweRanking survey,” said Jeffrey Maloy, senior vice president at Kantar. “As retailers and manufacturers look to maximize value for today’s consumers, it’s crucial to understand how they work together to collectively drive growth. Kantar’s PoweRanking survey ranks retailers and manufacturers across various areas to showcase the best-in-class trading partners.”
Maloy said the shopper value equation remains central to growth prospects, and discussions around category performance in 2025 are closely linked to the near-term state of the economy. While economic growth has been resilient, consumer sentiment has not significantly improved from levels reached in 2022.
“After two years of price increases, shoppers are now exploring more retailers and categories, but with greater spending discipline,” Mazumdar said. “The result is a significant shift in power, with consumers now in the driver’s seat. The industry must navigate this new dynamic and find ways to recover from the current stall, driving sustainable and meaningful category growth moving forward.”
The top five manufacturers in this year’s report include PepsiCo at the top for the ninth consecutive year. The food and beverage company was cited for its continued growth and consumer-oriented business practices. Coca-Cola and P&G maintained their No. 2 and No. 3 positions, respectively, receiving positive remarks for the depth of their consumer insights.
Other supplier-specific differences compared to 2023 include Unilever and General Mills trading places to No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, and Mondelez entering the top 10 for its accessibility and strong brand recognition.
“As unit and volume growth slows across most categories, leading manufacturers must take the lead in driving a turnaround,” Mazumdar said. “Because retailers are questioning any price increases, they are challenging their brand partners to accelerate volume growth through category-driving innovation and enhanced shopper engagement instead. The top manufacturers, such as PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, and P&G, are well-positioned to partner with retailers to address category growth.”
Kantar said with price increases no longer an option for most brands, manufacturers and retailers will likely focus on a three-pillar approach to category growth. The first pillar focuses on expanding shoppers’ baskets by capturing more categories, using data and omnichannel insights to find more ways to entice shoppers into buying more products.
The second pillar aims to inspire incremental category purchases through greater presence and shopper engagement during the path to purchase. The third pillar involves optimizing category assortment with a refined product-price structure and breakthrough innovation to drive category upgrades, according to Kantar.
“Heading into 2025, one thing is clear: Shoppers are more empowered than ever, and they expect seamless, engaging experiences from retailers and personalized, relevant offers from brands,” said Katie Carroll, senior director at Kantar. “As shoppers become more selective and less loyal, driving growth will become increasingly challenging. To succeed, retailers and brands must partner to meet shoppers’ evolving needs and ultimately return categories to real growth.”
Maloy said grocery retailers and most major food and consumables manufacturers have fared well amid inflationary pricing that has boosted revenue for the past few years. But times have changed, and retailers like Walmart, Kroger and Costco are trying to attract shoppers who want and need more value. The big players have focused on volume growth for the past year, holding prices down and taking market share from regional food retailers that don’t have the scale to drive lower costs or the infrastructure in place to deliver more personalized offers.
He said growth in private brands has been one-way, and retailers have continued to offer the value at a lower price. Maloy said retailers, including regional operators, are looking at niche and private brands as a way to differentiate their offerings to value-conscious shoppers.
“The mandate to suppliers from retailers continues to be ‘help us grow volumes’ knowing full well that if suppliers don’t deliver, they can do themselves with private brands. Private brands are also helpful to margins,” Maloy said.
Another insight from the interviews with retailers was that most expect suppliers to work with them to grow category sales, capture more of the full basket, inspire repeat purchases, engage with the customer outside the store and upsell.
Kantar said a critical message consumers have been sending to the marketplace is that even if sentiment and spending power improve, they are likely to maintain the cautious purchasing habits they cultivated during inflation. This behavior creates challenges for retailers and brands as they try to grow unit sales while prices remain high.
“If they only have $100 to pay for a basket of goods, and they bought 10 products, they are not going to buy 11 or 12 products and spend more than the $100,” a grocery retailer noted in the report.
Kantar said retailers highlighted a concern about not being able to capture the full basket as shoppers are chasing value and shopping more retailers in general. Consumers are cherry-picking retailers for select missions and categories to find the best prices or hunt for promotions.
Editor’s note: The Supply Side section of Talk Business & Politics focuses on the companies, organizations, issues and individuals engaged in providing products and services to retailers. The Supply Side is managed by Talk Business & Politics, and is sponsored by Firebend.