Top 50 Global Retailers 2022

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The NRF Top 50 Global Retailers list is a fresh look at the 50 most impactful international retailers based on their operations at the start of 2021 (originally published March 23, 2022; updated April 5, 2022*).

Kantar partnered with NRF to produce this ranking of the Top 50 Global Retailers in 2021 that seeks to maximize discussion, debate, education and exploration opportunities that the ranking can provide.

Any comparison of retailers operating in multiple countries is made difficult by currency exchange rates and domestic market strengths that can distort comparisons over time. To minimize these impacts, Kantar’s retailer database is maintained in a retailer’s reported local currency, which has been converted to U.S. dollars using the International Monetary Fund rates database to assign rank points and construct this list.

Kantar’s ranking methodology uses a system in which points are given to retailers based on their domestic and international retail revenues. To qualify for the rankings, retailers need to have a direct investment in at least three countries.

Explore the complete list below or take a closer look at the rundown.

*The Global 50 list was updated on April 5, 2022, to accurately reflect full retail sales and store numbers for Inditex. Inditex is now No. 14 (previously No. 36). All retailers previously ranked 14-35 are now decreased by one rank. The list is the same for Nos. 1-13 and Nos. 37-50.

Methodology

The Top 50 Global Retailers is a fresh look at the 50 most impactful international retailers based on their operations from the start of 2021. The methodology uses a system in which points are given to retailers based on their domestic and international retail revenues.

To qualify for this year’s rankings, companies had to meet several criteria. Both publicly and privately owned companies were considered, and the businesses were reviewed between January and March 2022.

First, the company must be a retailer, defined as a goods-for-consumer resale operation open to the public. Second, the company must have direct selling operations in at least three countries, one of which must not be an adjacent territory to the retailer’s home country. Offshore tax havens, territories and protectorates are disqualified from consideration as a country.

The review process looked at retailers’ international direct selling capabilities and total global retail sales. Where reported, Kantar took the size of the company’s international retail sales for the most recent 52-week filing period, in the currency provided, and converted the figure to U.S. dollars. Currencies were converted using the International Monetary Fund rates database. After considering the relative impact of international and domestic operations, Kantar created a points system giving the most points to retailers with international direct selling, and fewer points to those with a preponderance of domestic retail sales.

Sources for this year’s report included annual reports, public filings and press statements, as well as consumer research on shopping patterns. Much of this data is collected by a global team of analysts who work throughout the year on the estimates. This information is shared with subscribers to Kantar’s online platform for retail performance data, kriq.kantarretailiq.com.

There are three notable departures from the Top 50 Global Retailers lists from prior years. After careful consideration, these adjustments are intended to focus this body of work on the retail operations of these businesses and with greater attention placed on the most relevant ranking factors.

First, in alignment with Kantar’s Retail IQ methodology, we accounted only for retail revenues in determining rank points. In prior years, retailers’ full reported revenues were leveraged in determining rank points. As the largest global retailers continue to expand outside of retail revenues, this list now focuses only on retail-relevant revenues.

Second, we eliminated assigning rank points based on alliances, partnerships, online marketplaces or differentiation between first- and third-party sales. These factors played a negligible role in the rankings in recent years.

Lastly, we no longer incorporate food service companies in this ranking, which has had a minor impact; only three restaurants made the Global Top 50 list last year.

The result is a more focused list of the Top 50 Global Retailers with greater emphasis on retail operations, while maintaining the importance of international capabilities.