Top 50 Global Retailers 2023

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 2022. The methodology uses a system that awards points to retailers based on their domestic and international retail revenues.

To qualify for this year’s ranking, companies had to meet several criteria. Both publicly and privately owned companies were considered and reviewed between January and March 2023.

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 adjacent 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 that awards 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, press statements and 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 Retail IQ online platform for retail performance data, kriq.kantarretailiq.com.

In alignment with Kantar’s Retail IQ methodology, only retail revenues determined rank points. As the largest global retailers continue to expand outside of retail revenues, this list now focuses only on retail-specific revenues.

Most retailers in Kantar’s scope of coverage operate in the food, drug and mass merchandise channels. To offer users a robust view of global retail trends, Kantar also covers retail leaders across all channels globally, but not exhaustively.

The result is a focused list of the Top 50 Global Retailers that emphasizes retail operations, while maintaining the importance of international capabilities.