Amazon.com Joins Top 10 Retailers
For the first time since STORES Media began reporting on the Top 100 largest retailers in America, Amazon.com joined the ranks of the 10 largest companies, rising to No. 9 from 11 last year. Amazon’s domestic sales increased 27.2 percent between 2012 and 2013.
“Amazon is spreading its roots beyond its core of online retail, yet the impact this Seattle-based behemoth has had on the changing face of retail is unmistakable. Breaking into the top ten is an impressive feat that speaks to Amazon.com’s growth,” says STORES Editor Susan Reda. “Notable as that is, brick and mortar retailers are keeping pace by continuously reinventing themselves to better serve today’s anytime, anywhere shopper.”
Walmart once again takes the top spot with U.S. sales of $334 billion in 2013. Kroger held on to the No. 2 ranking for the fifth year in a row, with reported domestic sales of more than $93 billion.
Costco (No. 3) and Target (No. 4) swapped spots this year, as Costco saw domestic sales increase 5.2 percent, while Target’s sales decreased 0.9 percent Between 2012 and 2013. Home Depot (No. 5), Walgreen (No. 6), CVS Caremark (No. 7), and Lowe’s (No. 8) each maintained their spots on the list. Safeway rounds out the list at the No. 10 spot this year.
Other noticeable changes in the list include IKEA North America’s jump from 95 to 88 on domestic sales growth of 6.8 percent. Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons climbed from 96 to 21 as a result of a merger with Safeway. Earlier this year, Cerberus Capital Management agreed to buy Safeway for $9 billion, and the Albertsons-Safeway combination will create a company with more than 2,400 stores, 27 distribution facilities and 20 manufacturing plants.
"Amazon’s rise into the top 10 is symbolic of a shift in U.S. retail towards a genuinely multichannel future," says Kantar Retail Chief Knowledge Officer Bryan Gildenberg. "Retailers that command the Top 100 in the future will have an in-depth knowledge of their shoppers across their physical and digital touchpoints, and they'll all have to fend off Amazon’s game changing economic and operating model".
For in-depth analysis on the retail power players and notable trends with the nation’s largest retail companies, read the complete article on NRF.com. The annual ranking of U.S. retailers by domestic sales, featured in the July issue of STORES Magazine was compiled by Kantar Retail and sponsored by Island Pacific and NEC.