The NRF Top 50 global retailers list gives a new look at the 50 most influential international retailers, based on their operations as of 2021.
Kantar and NRF partnered to create this ranking of the Top 50 global retailers in 2021. It aims to increase discussion, education, and exploration opportunities that the ranking may provide.
Currency exchange rates and strengths in domestic markets can make it difficult to compare retailers operating across multiple countries. This can lead to misleading comparisons. Kantar’s retailer database has been created in the reported local currency of each retailer. This is converted to U.S. Dollars using the International Monetary Fund Rates database to assign rank points to this list.
Kantar’s ranking system uses a system where retailers are awarded points based on domestic and international retail revenue. Retailers must have direct investments in at least three countries to be eligible for the rankings.
Take a look at the entire list or just the top.
Ranking | Retailer | International revenues (billions). | Expand all |
1 | Walmart | $84.34 | |
2 | Amazon.com | $113.64 | |
3 | Schwarz Group | $106.04 | |
4 | Aldi | $98.95 | |
5 | Costco | $46.76 | |
6 | Ahold Delhaize | $69.67 | |
7 | Carrefour | $61.69 | |
8 | IKEA | $50.05 | |
9 | Seven & I | $30.71 | |
10 | The Home Depot | $9.35 | |
11 | Walgreens Boots Alliance | $12.97 | |
12 | Metro AG | $26.21 | |
13 | Alibaba | $2.27 | |
14 | Rewe | $16.32 | |
15 | Tesco | $9.35 | |
16 | Auchan | $19.12 | |
17 | AS Watson | $22.80 | |
18 | Casino | $18.62 | |
19 | Aeon | $5.74 | |
20 | Apple | $9.05 | |
21 | H&M | $22.73 | |
22 | Dairy Farm | $20.14 | |
23 | Spar International | $20.70 | |
24 | Jeronimo Martins | $17.39 | |
25 | TJX | $10.51 | |
26 | Adeo Group | $15.31 | |
27 | Ceconomy | $13.51 | |
28 | Intermarche | $5.06 | |
29 | Quick Retailing | $13.61 | |
30 | Best Buy | $3.71 | |
31 | Leclerc | $2.60 | |
32 | Sephora (LVMH) | $13.08 | |
33 | FamilyMart UNY | $6.24 | |
34 | Woolworths Limited (Aust) | $0.01 | |
35 | Euronics International | $13.16 | |
36 | Inditex | $11.95 | |
37 | Couche-Tard | $11.57 | |
38 | Coop Schweiz | $5.40 | |
39 | Kingfisher | $8.87 | |
40 | Decathlon | $8.89 | |
41 | Landmark Group | $8.09 | |
42 | Expert | $8.91 | |
43 | Suning | $1.67 | |
44 | Louis Delhaize | $7.91 | |
45 | CP All | $2.52 | |
46 | Falabella | $6.55 | |
47 | Reitan | $5.98 | |
48 | Systeme U | $0.60 | |
49 | C&A Mode | $6.85 | |
50 | Zalando | $7.16 |
Methodology
The Top 50 Global Resellers is a new look at the 50 most influential international retailers. It’s based on their operations starting in 2021. This methodology is based on retailers’ domestic and international retail revenue.
Companies had to meet several criteria in order to be considered for the rankings. Companies owned by public and private companies were both considered. The businesses were evaluated between January 2022 and March 2022.
The company must first be a retailer. This is defined as an open-to-the-public goods-for-consumer operation. The company must also have direct sales operations in at least three countries. One of these must not be an adjoining territory to the home country. The country is not eligible for consideration if it has offshore tax havens, territories or protectorates.
The review looked at international direct selling capabilities of retailers and global retail sales. Kantar converted the international retail sales figures to U.S. dollar wherever reported. The International Monetary Fund rates database was used to convert currencies. Kantar looked at the relative impact of international operations on domestic operations and created a points system that gave the most points for retailers who sell internationally direct and the least points to those who sell domestically.
This year’s report was based on annual reports, press statements and public filings, as well consumer research on shopping habits. A global team of analysts collects much of the data and works throughout the year to make the estimates. This information is shared with subscribers to Kantar’s online platform for retail performance data, kriq.kantarretailiq.com.
Three notable changes have been made to the Top 50 Global Retailers Lists over previous years. These adjustments were made after careful review. They are meant to concentrate this body of work on these businesses’ retail operations and place greater emphasis on the most important ranking factors.
In accordance with Kantar’s Retail IQ methodology we only considered retail revenues when determining rank points. Prior years, rank points were determined using retailers’ reported revenue. This list now only includes retail-relevant revenues as the biggest global retailers are expanding beyond retail sales.
Second, rank points that were based on partnerships, alliances, or differentiation between first and third-party sales were eliminated. In recent years, these factors have played a minimal role in ranking.
We no longer include food service companies in this ranking. Only three restaurants were on the Global Top 50 last year.
This list contains the Top 50 Global Retailers, with a greater focus on operations in retail and international capabilities.