
Chinese ecommerce giant Alibaba took out the number one spot after its IPO, valued at $66.4 billion. Its US counterpart Amazon is now in second place at $62.3 billion, ahead of budget retailer Walmart.
Woolworths is the only Australasian brand in the rankings, sitting at number seven.
Millward Brown says retail is now one of the fastest growth categories alongside technology.
It picked discount retailing as a growing trend, pointing out the growth of UK discount supermarkets Aldi and Lidl. It also highlighted the success of retailers focusing on convenience, and noted that Chinese brands were doing well.
“The ability of Chinese brands to build brands overseas as well as at home is a common theme across many categories in this year’s ranking. According to The Economist Intelligence Unit, China is expected to overtake the US as the world’s largest overall retail market within five years.”
Elspeth Cheung, global BrandZ valuation director at Millward Brown, says retail remains tough around the world, but retailers are rising to the challenge.
“As retailers continue to fight off fierce price competition and operate in a category undergoing a radical transformation, there’s an underlying urgency to remain relevant to shoppers. Adopting a shopper-first attitude is not enough; retailers also need to create meaningful and differentiated brands if they want to find a path to growth.”
The BrandZ Top 20 Most Valuable Retail Brands 2015
Rank 2015 |
Brand |
Brand value 2015 ($M) |
Brand value change |
Rank 2014 |
Rank in global Top 100 |
1 |
Alibaba |
66,375 |
N/A |
New |
13 |
2 |
Amazon |
62,292 |
-3% |
1 |
14 |
3 |
Walmart |
35,245 |
0% |
2 |
26 |
4 |
The Home Depot |
27,705 |
25% |
3 |
31 |
5 |
Ikea |
17,025 |
-12% |
4 |
64 |
6 |
eBay |
14,171 |
-9% |
5 |
73 |
7 |
Woolworths |
11,818 |
-1% |
7 |
87 |
8 |
Aldi |
11,660 |
22% |
8 |
90 |
9 |
Costco |
11,214 |
19% |
9 |
97 |
10 |
Lowe’s |
10,756 |
23% |
13 |
– |
11 |
CVS |
10,280 |
21% |
14 |
– |
12 |
Tesco |
9,410 |
-37% |
6 |
– |
13 |
Walgreens |
8,484 |
2% |
15 |
– |
14 |
Target |
8,400 |
-11% |
10 |
– |
15 |
Carrefour |
8,000 |
-12% |
12 |
– |
16 |
JD.com |
7,649 |
N/A |
New |
– |
17 |
7-eleven |
7,492 |
N/A |
New |
– |
18 |
Macys |
7,103 |
N/A |
New |
– |
19 |
Whole Foods |
7,009 |
-24% |
11 |
– |
20 |
Lidl |
6, 031 |
27% |
19 |
– |