While more and more individuals opt to make their consumer purchases online rather than in physical stores, large retailers are still very much thriving. Despite the fact that you can get most of your products on Amazon for less compared to other retailers, for example, this is not stopping millions of people from driving down to their local Walmart or Best Buy to make their purchases. So out of all the various retailers in the entire world, which ones are among the largest and most successful? Each year the National Retail Federation examines the SEC filings from various retailers across the world and ranks the top 250 global retailers according to revenue. While the current data used to rank the retailers comes from 2013, as we are still awaiting financial reports from many companies for 2014, we can still get a pretty good sense as to which retailers are the largest in the world. So here they are, starting with number 10:
10. Target Corporation
Depending on where you live, it may seem like Target is a relatively new company, however that is far from the case. This American discount retail company can trace its roots back to 1902 in Minneapolis, however the first Target store was opened in 1962. Since then the brand has expanded its retail presence and they have around 1,934 different locations. In 2013, they saw around $72.5 billion dollars in revenue which places them as the 10th largest retailer in the world.
9. The Home Depot
Founded in 1978, The Home Depot is an American retailer that specialize in construction products and home improvement goods. The company has well over 2,200 different retail locations across the world, however their strongest market is still the United States. There they are the top home improvement retailer, and saw over $78.8 billion dollars in revenue for 2013.
8. Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co.
Operating out of Germany, Aldi is a massive supermarket company that is actually the largest discount supermarket chain in the entire world. The have over 9,600 locations that serve 18 different countries, and see billions of dollars in profits each year. According to the NRF, they saw over $81 billion dollars from their most recent filings, which earns them the number 8 spot of the largest retailers in the world.
7. Metro AG
Metro AG, often referred as the Metro Group, is a massive retail corporation that operates out of Germany. They are an extremely large and diversified company that has stores that operate in a variety of different retail markets. Their brands include Metro and Makro Cash and Carry, Real, Media Markt, Saturn, and Galeria Kaufhof, among others. Their stores serve the European, Asian, and African markets, and they realized some $86.3 billion dollars in revenue.
6. The Kroger Co.
Originally founded by Bernard Kroger back in 1883, the Kroger Company is a large American retail chain that operates in the supermarket industry. Similar to Metro AG, the Kroger Company is an extremely diversified company that controls and operates a variety of different brands. By revenue, they are the second largest supermarket retailer in the United States, and the 6th largest retailer in the world according to the NRF. Their reported revenues in 2013 were over $98.3 billion dollars.
5. Tesco PLC
Tesco is a massive supermarket and merchandise retail company that operates on a global scale. The company is headquartered in England, and they were originally founded back in 1919. Tesco operates and controls over 6,700 stores across the world and they saw $98.63 billion in revenue during 2013.
4. Lidl
Formerly known as Schwarz Unternehmens Treuhand KG, Lidl is a German discount supermarket company that operates more than 9,800 locations across 28 different countries. The primarily operate in Europe, however Lidl has plans to open locations in the United States sometime in 2018. NRF ranked then as the 4th largest retailer in the world as they saw over $98.66 billion dollars from revenue streams in 2013.
3. Carrefour S.A.
Carrefour is a large multinational retailer that is based out of France. The company oversees a variety of different retail brands that sell many different products, and they have around 10,000 or so locations spread throughout the world. They saw $98.68 billion dollars in revenue for 2013, which earned them the number 3 spot on the list.
2. Costco Wholesale Corporation
Costco is a membership-only retail chain that specializes in the sales of bulk products, similar to stores like BJ’s. They are currently headquartered in Issaquah, Washington and have over 670 warehouse stores in the United States, Canada, Australia, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Taiwan, Japan, Spain, and South Korea, however most of those stores are in the United States. In 2013 they saw $104 billion in revenue which earns them the number 2 spot on our list.
1. Walmart
Finally the largest retailer in the world, by a large margin, is the American retail giant known as Walmart. Their brand specializes in discount department stores and they operate over 11,400 different locations across the entire world. They are one of the most valuable companies on the planet, and are not only the largest retailer in the United States, but the world as well. In 2013, they realized well over $476 billion dollars in revenue which is why they are ranked as number 1.
Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Sainsburys
Source for Data: The National Retail Federation
