Deloitte Retailer Ranking: Amazon continues success story

The consulting firm Deloitte has once again selected the strongest players in the retail sector. It is not surprising that Amazon is continuing its success story. Worldwide, however, the retail trade is struggling with economic challenges.

Deloitte’s “Global Powers of Retailing” Report 2019 confirmed Amazon’s market power. With an increase in sales of 23.3 percent in fiscal 2017, the retail giant was again able to make up two places and is now in fourth place behind Walmart, Costco, and The Kroger.

“Amazon will probably continue to improve its position this year as well. Right at the beginning of the year, the online retailer became the world’s most valuable listed company for the first time. Amazon’s great strength is its position as an innovation driver at whose speed many companies cannot keep up,” says Karsten Hollasch, Partner and Head of Consumer Business at Deloitte.

German retailers also convince

Schwarz Gruppe and Aldi are among the best German companies in the ranking. While Schwarz Gruppe reported sales growth of 7.4 percent, the supermarket chain grew by a total of 7.7 percent.

Among the top 250 are a total of 19 companies from Germany, including Edeka, REWE, Metro, Ceconomy, Otto, Rossmann, dm, Tengelmann and Zalando.

Challenges for the global economy

Although the top players continue to grow in strength, the global economy faces several challenges. After the global economy had continued to grow steadily until the beginning of 2018, global growth slowed down increasingly. In particular, the shift in monetary, financial and economic policy in countries such as the USA had helped to accelerate inflation and raise the cost of capital.

Cooling also in Germany

Of course, these factors do not leave the local economy untouched. Hollasch explained in the study: “Consumer sentiment will fall at the start of 2019. Nevertheless, forecasts assume that the German economy will continue to grow in 2019, albeit at a moderate pace. The Deloitte partner also emphasizes: “German companies must continue to adapt to the digital future and adapt their business models accordingly”.

You can download the complete study here.

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