Walmart and Amazon may appear to be in a close fight to be the go-to retailer for everyday low prices, but when it comes to evaluating the strength of one company’s brand identity over another, it’s no contest.
The big-box, bricks-and-mortar retailer is still worth a great deal more, according to Interbrand, which ranked the 50 most powerful retail brands in its fourth annual report released today.
The top four most valuable retail brands in North America are: Walmart at $131.9 billion; Target at $27.1 billion; The Home Depot at $25.7 billion; and Amazon at $23.6 billion.
Despite Walmart’s massive lead, Amazon is one of the fastest growing on Interbrand’s top 50 list. The online retailer jumped 27 percentage points, while Walmart dropped by 6 percent.
Interbrand said Walmart faces price competition from pure e-commerce brands, especially Amazon, and from the growing popularity of small-box discount stores in the dollar and convenience categories. It is also investing in mobile and e-commerce to keep up with the 10 percent annual growth rate of U.S. online shopping. Meanwhile, it described Amazon as a “force to be reckoned with,” as it expands into online advertising, original programming and streaming video.
Other Seattle-area retailers that made the list include Nordstrom at No. 12, with a brand value of $8.9 billion (down 12 percent); and Costco at No. 13, with a brand value of $8.3 billion (up 13 percent).