Top 20 Most Valuable Retail Brands
May
5
Written by:
5/5/2009 8:09 AM
Top 20 Most Valuable Retail Brands
The most valuable brands in the US are:
- Wal-Mart
- Best Buy
- The Home Depot
- Target
- CVS/pharmacy
- Dell
- Walgreens
- Lowe’s
- Sam’s Club
- Coach
- eBay
- Staples
- Nordstrom
- Amazon.com
- Costco
- Victoria’s Secret
- Avon
- GameStop
- GAP
- Tiffany & Co.
The best-known brands aren't always the most valuable. In a new ranking from Interbrand Design Forum Walmart comes in first, with its brand value estimated at $129.8 billion, followed by Best Buy, at $22 billion, and the Home Depot at $20.8 billion. Many household names - including Kroger, Macy's and Sears - don't even crack the top 50.
Walmart is doing so well because it takes cues from many of its competitors, including Target. Best Buy, number 2 on the list, which sells many of the same brands as its rivals, including Walmart and Target, has successfully established itself as a rewarding, special place to shop with a clear value proposition.
The Home Depot at number 3 earned its ranking on the basis of scale rather than brand innovation. Its brand valuation compared to sales is a much lower percentage than Lowe's. Lowe's comes in at No. 8, with the brand valued at $10.7 billion. Home Depot is winning based on its operational advantages, not on clever and successful brand management.
Brand plays a much lesser role in grocery-store selection, where chains score low in terms of customer loyalty and brand strength. (Whole Foods Market, No. 47, is the lone grocer in the Top 50.) And department stores didn't score well because of their financial woes.
Interbrand computes its ranking by combining how much chains are likely to earn in the future with its valuation of brand strength. The traits the most valuable brands share are:
- clarity of purpose,
- a relevant shopping experience,
- delivering on the brand's promise, and
- staying consistent over time.
Without dedication to brand management, there's going to be a lot of companies exiting the market, and lots of consolidation. Those who focus on long-term brand strategies are going to win disproportionately. Once retailers have squeezed all the costs out, they have to find new ways to get customers to fall back in love with them.
Case Study: Coach
Coach, Inc. says its net income fell 14% for its second fiscal quarter to $217 million, while sales slipped 4% to $960 million. The company has cut its expansion plans in half, saying it will probably open 20 new stores in the year ahead, instead of the previously announced 40. In North America, comparable-store sales fell 13.2% for the quarter, and in Japan, the decline was 1%.
"The heavily promotional atmosphere against a deteriorating economic backdrop impacted both traffic and conversion rates in our retail stores and department store locations and ultimately led to weaker-than-expected sales," the company said in a recent release.
The company is walking the thin line between attracting customers and maintaining its brand cache. Although the company boasts that "we stood virtually alone among retailers in maintaining our long-standing practice of not discounting in our retail stores," it also notes that third-quarter offerings will "increase our selection of product across a variety of price points, offering exceptional value to a consumer who is clearly more reluctant to spend." (emphasis added)
source: www.mediapost.com