Walmart continues to be the world’s largest retailer by far, but who else has benefited from the Covid-19 pandemic? Deloitte has revealed its annual top 250 retailers, including some players from the Benelux.
Upward trajectory worldwide
For those active in e-commerce and food, things have been looking promising since the coronavirus emerged. This result is clearly visible in the Global Powers of Retailing report, compiled by Deloitte annually. According to the research on the past financial year, the 250 largest retailers worldwide managed to surpass the previous year in terms of turnover and profit, thanks to a stronger-than-ever focus on e-commerce and FMCG.
Despite many challenges, the global retail sector is still growing. Evan Sheehan, who is Retail, Wholesale & Distribution Leader for Deloitte Global, explains: “Despite a year of economic fits and starts, retail appears to be on an upward trajectory, with innovation in digital and sustainability as exciting bright spots in the face of the disruption and uncertainty.”
The first Chinese player enters
The ten largest retailers achieved double-digit growth, and despite the economic turmoil, they all – without exception – found the additional time or resources to invest in more sustainable practices and products. Rightly so, says Deloitte, as 55 % of consumers has bought a sustainable product or service in the past four weeks.
The success of e-commerce also led to a noticeable newcomer making its way to the top 10: JD.com came in at ninth place, as the first Chinese player to make it to the highest ten. This was thanks to the platform’s sales growth of over 27 % in the financial year 2020. The only other newcomer in the top 10 is Target, which got its second wind during the lockdowns. They take the places formerly occupied by CVS and Tesco.
In addition to e-commerce, it appeared the world’s strongest retailers also underwent rapid store expansion and an increase in the number of mergers and acquisitions. Deloitte expects more of this will occur in 2022. “Those retailers that can get consumers what they want, where they want it and when they want it, will be the ones that continue to win – no matter where they operate”, they advise. After all, there is a lot of turnover of customers to come, so it has never been more important to anticipate customer needs.
Benelux provides sprinters
In the more extensive top 250, it is striking that 66 % of the companies are FMCG players; supermarkets, in other words. Nearly half (48.4 %) are American retailers, 32.7 % are European. While the Americans together accounted for 9.2 % sales growth, sales among Europeans increased by only 1.1 %. This is not surprising, as the American-dominated top 10 is responsible for a third of all sales in the entire top 250. Their (weighted) average growth was twice as high as that of all 250 retailers combined.
Nonetheless, several Benelux retail companies could stand their ground on the list. Ahold Delhaize dropped one position to number 13, despite a 12.8 % sales growth. On the other hand, its rival Jumbo moved up nineteen places to position 126, thanks to a 13.8 % sales growth. Of the Belgian retailers, Colruyt Group moved up seven spots to 113. The latter replaced Louis Delhaize as the biggest Belgian on the list, as that chain dropped fourteen places to 133. According to Deloitte, the supermarket group lost 8.1 % of its sales in 2020.
In the non-food category, the Netherlands-based Ikea Group jumped two places to number 24. However, the home furnishing chain lost 4.1 % turnover in 2020. Action and Ahold Delhaize are also among the fifty fastest growers, with annual growth rates of 22.6 % and 14.4 %, respectively.
The top ten of the world’s largest retailers (based on turnover):
-
(=) Walmart (US: 559.1 billion dollars, + 6.7 %)
-
(=) Amazon (US: 213.5 billion dollars, + 34.8 %)
-
(=) Costco (US: 166.761 billion dollars, + 9.2 %)
-
(=) Schwarz Group (Germany: 144.3 billion dollars, + 10 %)
-
(+2) The Home Depot (US: 132.1 billion dollars, + 19.9 %)
-
(-1) Kroger (US: 131.6 billion dollars, + 8.3 %)
-
(-1) Walgreens Boots Alliance (US: 117.7 billion dollars, + 1.5 %)
-
(=) Aldi (Germany: 117 billion dollars, + 8.1 %)
-
(+4) JD.com (China: 94.4 billion dollars, + 27.6 %)
-
(+1) Target (US: 92.4 billion dollars, + 19.8 %)
