Good News: Pandemic Produces Retail Winners

While the news is full of retail doom and gloom of late, the post-pandemic prognosis for one class of companies has actually been improving. Amazon, of course, is among them by virtue of its supply chain and breadth of product. But a new ranking shows some retailers beyond the usual suspects that are in position to emerge stronger form the crisis.

All of the retailers on the list have aligned their business model in some way to address the coronavirus crisis. The ranking come from the third annual BrandZ Top 75 Most Valuable Global Retail Brands Ranking, unveiled today (April 30) by WPP and Kantar. Topline, it shows that the brand value of the top retail brands has grown 12 percent to $1.5 trillion over the past year. In the international top 10 are some fast-rising companies including China’s JD.com and Alibaba. Three Japanese brands made their first appearance in this year’s ranking: online fashion store Zozotown (No. 52, $4.5 billion), retail network Aeon (No. 64, $2.9 billion) and convenience store company Family Mart (No. 75, $2.4 billion). China’s ecommerce platform Pinduoduo (No. 26, $9.4 billion) is the highest new entry; Bunnings hardware chain from Australia (No. 69, $2.7 billion) is the fourth new entry.

“Brand value isn’t just determined by financial performance, but also by reputation in the eyes of consumers,” said Graham Staplehurst, Global Strategy Director for BrandZ at Kantar. “How retailers behave now in terms of helping people through the crisis, as well as the way in which they treat their staff and whether they comply with government and health advice, will be important to their survival. Those that have actively demonstrated their relevance and usefulness and continue to do so as consumers’ lives start to get back to normal, will be best-placed to strengthen customer relationships both in the recovery phase and the long-term.”

The fastest riser category was dominated by pure retail. Grocery outlets predictably saw an increase in value as consumers stocked up on essential goods during the coronavirus pandemic. Brands that represent the digital shift scored well, but not at the expense of some brick-and mortar brands. Amazon, JD and Alibaba were up 32 percent, 24 percent and 16 percent respectively. Costco (No. 11, $28.7 billion) grew 35 percent, Target (No. 23, $10.6 billion) was up 27 percent, Walmart (No. 8, $45.8 billion) increased 24 percent and Sam’s Club (No. 36, $6.8 billion) rose 19 percent.

According to Kantar the highly ranked retailers have continued to stay active in consumer engagement and have kept the throttle down on advertising investment. Marketing for these companies is adapting to lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders.

“The coronavirus crisis underscores the essential role that retail plays in both our daily lives and the overall global economy; we are seeing some heroic examples of retail companies stepping up to meet consumer need and keep the world turning,” said David Roth, CEO of The Store WPP EMEA and Asia and Chairman of BrandZ. “While this is a fast-moving and ongoing story, the report allows us to show the businesses that, having invested in becoming a strong brand, are potentially better able to withstand the current shock.”