Watch Out Walmart: Alibaba To Become World's Largest Retailer By 2016 Watch Out Walmart: Alibaba To Become World's Largest Retailer By 2016 {{article.article.images.featured.caption}} Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Full Bio The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. Loading ... Loading ... This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe “We want to be bigger than Walmart,” said Jack Ma, the founder and driving force of Alibaba Group, to CNBC on Friday, as his company’s shares began trading on the New York Stock Exchange. Not only does Ma’s e-commerce giant want to surpass the Bentonville-based retailer, it thinks it will do so soon. In comments reported last October, Jonathan Lu, Alibaba’s chief executive, predicted the company will overtake Walmart to become the world’s largest retail network by 2016. Alibaba will reach transaction volume of $490 billion by that year, Lu predicted. That’s not bad for the business founded by Ma, an out-of-luck English teacher, in 1999 in an apartment in Hangzhou.

Since then, his online shopping sites have catapulted Alibaba past eBay and Amazon. In fact, Alibaba’s gross merchandise value is now bigger than that of the two American icons combined. But don’t expect Lu’s prediction to come true. Alibaba is a great company with a terrific story to tell, but Walmart will still hold the crown as the planet’s biggest store when 2017 arrives. I believe Alibaba’s growth will slow considerably in 2015, if not in the second half of this year. Most analysts disagree, believing Ma’s wish to overtake Walmart will soon be fulfilled. After all, the American-based retailer’s sales are barely growing. In the year ended January 31, sales were up only 1.6%. In its quarter ended April 30, the increase was 0.8%. In the period ended July 31, growth came in at 2.8%. Compare that to Alibaba, which uses gross merchandise volume as a metric as it does not carry inventory. The company’s GMV in 2013 was $248 billion, 52% more than in 2012.

GMV hit $69 billion in Q1, up 46% year-on-year, and $82 billion in Q2, up 45%. One estimate puts full-year 2014 GMV at $420 billion. So Alibaba, which claims to be “the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world in terms of gross merchandise volume,” looks like it will overtake “old-economy Walmart,” which had sales of $473.1 billion in its last fiscal year, in 2015, a year ahead of Lu’s already ambitious schedule. How could Alibaba fail to take the top spot? Most important, the company is primarily dependent on China when the Chinese economy is stumbling— in reality growing somewhere around 2% —and consumption is stagnating. Stagnating consumption is evident from private surveys and, among other indicators, falling imports and negative same-store sales for retailers. Tellingly, in Q2 Walmart’s international division had same-store sales growth in every country but China . Other major retailers also experienced falling same-store sales in that country during the quarter. And there is little likelihood there will be a significant pickup in consumption this year or in the near future.

Employment growth across the country is probably no better this year than it was in 2012 (0.37%) or 2013 (0.36%). Moreover, the downturn in housing values, evident across the country since at least May, and declining sales volumes will soon hit retailing hard as furniture and home appliance purchases will inevitably fall. The bright spot for Alibaba, despite the grim overall outlook, is that online retailing is gaining popularity fast. Bain & Co. thinks the Chinese online market will expand 32% a year until 2015. China may have more internet users (632 million) and online shoppers (302 million) than any other country, but there is room for growth. According to Beijing’s projections, there could be more than 850 million Chinese online by 2015, but even that fantastic number is not the end of the story.

As Ilya Grozovsky of SPQR Capital told the New Yorker, “There’s another two United States of Americas waiting to get online over there.” Yet analysts, when talking about the prospects for e-commerce in the world’s most populous nation, seem to think buyers and sellers will flock only to Alibaba. In fact, the company already processes four-fifths of online transactions in China, so the room for upside for Alibaba is limited, despite the innovative things Jack Ma is doing to collect and mine customer data, integrate online and traditional retailing, and build logistics networks. Moreover, Alibaba’s competitors are following the same strategies, and at least one of them, Hong Kong-listed Tencent Holdings, looks like it is executing better. For one thing, Tencent, with a stronger management team than Alibaba, is pursuing an acquisition strategy that is more disciplined—and easier to understand— than Alibaba’s. Tencent, for instance, recently advanced its cause with a strategic stake in online retailer JD.com, and its other buys seem smarter than Jack Ma’s. Ma’s seemingly reckless purchase of half of a soccer club—he was drunk when he struck the deal—is not the only recent acquisition to attract widespread criticism.

Although internet titans Alibaba and Tencent will surely dominate China e-commerce, virtually every major bricks-and-mortar retailer is going online in China, including Walmart, which in its Q2 report cited double-digit growth from its e-commerce operations there. In short, Alibaba’s growth potential in China is limited. Everyone is going to take a bite out of Jack Ma’s core market. Given all the hype over consumption in China and China’s online growth, it’s no surprise that analysts were perplexed by Ma’s September 15 comments that Alibaba will be looking to Europe and the U.S. for growth . Yet he undoubtedly knows that his company, in order to continue to expand, will have to do so outside his home country. That’s undoubtedly why Alibaba talks about using IPO proceeds elsewhere . As Ma said in the middle of this month, “We hope to become a truly global company.” So Alibaba has plans aplenty for the rest of the planet, but growth in transactions outside China will come slowly. Yes, it has ambition, money, a track record of success, and patience, but it is also going up against dominant players that will fight back, something that Alibaba, which essentially created online retailing in China, has never had to contend with.

To his credit, Ma is taking his time entering the American market to make sure he gets it right. He used his 2010 acquisitions of Auctiva and Vendio to build California-based 11 Main, a site for boutique retailers. The slow introduction of 11 Main, most often compared to Etsy, will surely be proven the correct approach, but the well-planned rollout means Alibaba will remain a niche business in the world’s largest economy for some time. Top 10 largest retailers | Deloitte | Press release Related topics Top 10 global retailers show modest growth in 2014 New York – 25 September 2014 –Revenues for the world’s top 10 largest retailers reached $1.3 trillion in the last fiscal year (encompassing companies’ fiscal years ended through June 2014). This is a 2.9 percent change from the prior year indicating modest growth. The retailers have been ranked according to their fiscal 2013 net retail revenue in U.S. dollars.

The average size of the top 10 retailers exceeded $129 billion according to the Global Powers of Retailing report from Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL), in conjunction with STORES Media. Half of top 10 retailers are U.S.-based companies. U.S.-based Walmart remained the world's largest retailer, with retail revenue totaling 4.5 times that of its nearest competitor. Costco moved into second place in 2013 from third in 2012, continuing its ascent up the ranking. Carrefour, Schwarz Group, Tesco and Kroger - ranked in marginal descending order - all achieved 2013 retail revenues of $98+ billion. In 2013, Carrefour assumed third place, barely edging out Schwarz Group, which moved up two spots into fourth place. Tesco dropped from second place in 2012 to fifth in 2013 as a result of both declining sales and a weaker British pound against the U.S. dollar.

Sixth-ranked Kroger may overtake all three of these companies in the future as a result of its January 2014 acquisition of Harris Teeter Supermarkets, which had revenues of $4.7 billion in fiscal year 2013. “Retail revenue growth in 2013 was modest. This was due to a number of contributory factors such as weakness in the global economy and rising market share for internet retailers,” said Dr. Ira Kalish, DTTL Chief Global Economist. “As for the global economy, 2013 saw a tightening of fiscal policy in the US, which included tax increases. In Europe, the fallout from the Eurozone debt crisis continued with governments implementing austerity measures, unemployment staying high, and credit conditions remaining restrictive. And in the UK, real wages continued to decline,” said Kalish. Further down the top 10 table, Metro maintained its ranking as the world's seventh largest retailer. Aldi overtook Home Depot on the back of a stronger euro compared with 2012. Tenth-ranked Target retained its position among the Top 10. Optimal retailer size appears to be $100bn range?

“The global retail industry is going through an interesting period of change; particularly as technological innovation continues to take pace,” says Vicky Eng, DTTL Global Sector Leader, Retail. “For the first time, in the top 10 ranking we are seeing a large number of grocery businesses that are clustered just under the $100 bn range,” said Eng. “The breakaway leader of this pack will be the one with the retail beyond foresight to embrace exponential innovation. Increasingly that will be the key to future success in retail.” Top 10 global retailers World's Largest US Retail Chains in 2015 World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains in 2015 Search the site World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains in 2015 Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Home Depot, Target - Which U.S. Retailer Ranks Highest? By Barbara Farfan Updated October 12, 2016 The annual list of World's Largest Retail Chains always contains all of the biggest and most recognized American retailers. But even though the U.S. is considered to be the dominant country in the global retail industry , the 2015 list of Largest U.S.

Retail Chains is shorter, compared to the 2014 Largest U.S. Retail Chains list. With 12 U.S. retail chains falling off, and just four new qualified additions, the 2015 World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains list is a little less U.S. dominant. In-Store Pickup Options to Win Last-Minute Shopping Dollars Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Home Depot and Target remain the leaders of the U.S. retail industry. Overall, 76 of the 250 retail chains with the largest annual revenue in the world are American retailers. That means that 30% of the the global retail chains that qualified for the 2015 Word's Largest Retail Chains list are based in the U.S. That's down from 33% from the 2014 global retail revenue rankings. All of this is according to the 2015 Global Powers of Retailing report, which is published each year by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine . The 2015 Global Powers list includes privately-held U.S. retail companies as well as U.S.

government-run military retail organizations, which will make it significantly different from the 2015 Fortune 500 list. Also, the 2015 Global Powers of Retailing report is based on 2013 revenue figures, so it lags behind and is a little less relevant to those interested in the U.S. retail industry than the annual Retail Fortune 500 rankings. What the annual Global Powers reports do provide, however, is a global ranking number which provides comparative perspective on retailing trends worldwide. While the global ranking of the largest retail chains in the world usually remains relatively unchanged from year to year, there were big shifts in the rankings of the 2015 World's Largest Retailers on the Global Powers list. None of the most dramatic year-over-year changes for U.S. retailers on the 2015 Global Powers list will be surprising to anyone who closely followed the U.S. retail industry in the 2013 calendar year. But the value of the Global Powers list each year is in having an easy reference which reveals how changes in the U.S. retail industry compare to changes with retail industries in countries around the world.

The most significant changes between the 2014 and 2015 Global Powers reports for the largest U.S. retail chains were: Costco became the second largest retail chain in the world. Although the annual revenue of the #1 Walmart retail chain is still four times higher than Costco's annual revenue, having U.S. retail chains in the top two positions is historically significant. Albertson's made a meteoric rise from #240 on the 2014 list to #43 on the 2015 list after an acquisition of 870 stores caused the chain to grow 489.7%. The largest U.S. convenience store chains - Sheetz, the Pantry, Casey's General, Wawa, QuikTrip, and RaceTrac - fell off the list of largest U.S. retail chains. This was not because of revenue drops, but because the Global Powers list makers determined that retail operations which derive a majority of retail revenue from fuel would not be included on the 2015 list, which is a reversal of its 2014 parameters and methodology. Radio Shack and Dell didn't qualify for the 2015 largest U.S.

retailer list, which is a reflection of nothing more than a struggle with maintaining retail relevance and a shrinking customer base. This is a list of the 2015 Top 100 U.S. based retail companies included on the World's Largest Retailers list published each year by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine . This list of the largest U.S. retail chains is arranged according to the ranking each of the biggest and best U.S. retail companies received on the 2014 Global Powers of Retailing report, which is based on retail sales revenue for FY 2013. >>2015 UPDATE: Biggest Holiday Offerings from the Largest US. Retail Chains: Top 10 World's Biggest Retail Giants 2013 - List Dose Article by Tarunbir Singh Banga , December 6, 2013 Watching the Global Economy is no less than experiencing a Roller Coaster ride, the higher it goes the faster it falls. In the past few years the global economy witnessed a slowdown that affected all the Businesses and Industries. But despite these tough economic conditions, there is one industry that showed continuous growth throughout this period – The Global Retail Industry.

Since 2010, the retail industry has shown a consistent rise of 5% in their revenues per annum. More than 80% of the top retailers registered an increase in their retail revenue despite most companies experiencing declining total sales. Now if we only consider the Top 10 retailers as a group against the Top 250 overall, we see figures that emphasize the fact that no wonder these are the Top 10 ! The Top 10 have a much larger geographical footprint than the rest of the industry leaders combined. These retail giants have operations spread out in almost 16 countries. Even with new entrants coming-in into the retail market and consuming a noticeable part of the market share, the Top 10 or as I’ll refer them – The Giants seem to be unaffected and continue to grow and prosper even in this competitive market. These top retailers operate big-box format stores across their network. A big-box format store is typically a physically large retail establishment also so called as a Super-Store or a Mega-Mart.

Now let us look at the list of these “ Top 10 Global Powers of Retailing ” we have been talking about – #10 Target Country of Origin: U.S.A Retail Revenue: 65.35 billion US$ The Target Corporation originally known as the Dayton Dry Goods Company is an American Retailing Company. It is the second largest discount retailer in the U.S. just after Walmart. The company features at number 38 in the Fortune 500 list. It has about 1,788 stores operating globally. With its recent expansion into Canada, Target setup more than 100 stores all over the country. It was built by a banker whose primary source of wealth was farm mortgages. He had no prior experience in retail but held tight control over the company and ran it as an enterprise. The store strictly forbade the sale of alcohol and had a policy of no business on Sundays. Following his strict inhibition for alcohol, the Dayton Company did not advertise in newspapers the sponsored liquor ads. Most of the money that was generated via this enterprise was redirected for a noble charitable cause. By the 1920’s, the Dayton enterprise had now become a million dollar venture. After the death of Mr.

Dayton and his son, the company went into the hands of the cousins that were lower in the family hierarchy. And then the company took a new turn as the new managers gave a different direction to the company. They gave away the earlier policies and started opening on Sundays and the Brand started selling alcohol to promote sales. They favored a more radical, aggressive, innovative, costly, and expansive management style. This began a spree of expansion and Target stores were all over the country and since then there is no stopping them. Target has a logo that leaves an indelible mark on everyone. It has a Bulls Eye Logo in red color and has had the same since the transition in name from the Dayton Goods Company to Target. It is ranked as the most philanthropic and admired companies. #9 The Home Depot Country of Origin: U.S.A Retail Revenue: 70,395 million US$ The Home Depot is an American Retailer of home improvement and construction products and services. It has its major influences in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China. In terms of revenue it is the largest Home-Improvement retailer worldwide. Also, it has been given the title of the fastest growing retailer in the History of U.S.A.

It operates in warehouse style buildings with an average store being 105,000 sq ft. which is almost twice the size of a standard football field. But this still is not the largest that the company operates, company’s largest store is located in New Jersey with a size of 225,000 sq ft. Home Depot’s has had several slogans since its inception, the first one being “When you’re at Home Depot, You’ll feel right at home”, later came “The Home Depot, Low prices are just the beginning”. But after several slogan changes, the one that has stuck is “More Saving, More Doing”. With the growth of connectivity via the internet and the growth of e-Commerce as a main stream industry for retail, the traditional bricks-and-mortar retail store is no longer the dominant medium for purchasing goods. Instead, it only serves as one of many ways to connect a retailer’s brand to its customers. Earlier the retailers tried to create enjoyable shopping experiences for customers at their retail stores but with the internet revolution, most retailers had to adopt the aesthetics of the iPad and get a larger share of there resources online. The Home Depot was no different in adopting this approach.They also chose social sharing media to promote its growth.

The domain homedepot.com attracts at least 150 million visitors annually. It is also a major promoter of several causes and redirects a huge sum of its funds to Environmental causes, Medical centers, Human Rights Campaigns and also sports. #8 Walgreens Country of Origin: U.S.A Retail Revenue: 70,395 million US$ The Walgreen Company (Walgreens) is the largest drug retailing chain in the United States. The company operates around 8,300 stores only in the U.S. Walgreens provides access to consumer goods and services, plus pharmacy, health and wellness services in America through its retail drugstores. Walgreens has a very good online presence with several online stores namely Beauty.com, Drugstore.com, VisionDirect.com. The company started off as a single drugstore that was later expanded to a chain of 20 stores. Then the company introduced a malted milkshake, which led to it establishing ice cream manufacturing plants. In a few years down the line they had 397 stores with annual sales of about $4,000,000. But this expansion was majorly attributed to sale of alcohol and whisky which they often stocked under the counter.

Walgreens initially started off by acquiring the drug stores in cities and operated in the same manner till it surpassed the $1 billion mark and then they decided to open their first freely standing store and also introduced a very catchy concept that became quite popular – Drive-Through pharmacies. The drug store files about 450 Million prescriptions in the country. Walgreens as a whole has come to be known as the go-to source for nearly all pharmaceutical needs and they show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. An important aspect of this tremendous growth is their simple logo which has been well recognized by the consumers and whether someone needs a quick snack or a medication refilled, Walgreens is sure to cross their mind. #7 Aldi Country of Origin: Germany Retail Revenue: 73,375 million US$ Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Compagnie also simply known as Aldi is a global discount supermarket chain based in Germany. The chain is made up of two separate groups Aldi Nord also known as Aldi Markt and Aldi Sud. Basically they have divided their operations into North and South and let these two firms operate independently. Aldi is also the owner of the “Trader Joe’s” chain that is operated in the U.S.

Sometimes people say “Aldi is Germany and Germany is Aldi”. Aldi’s founder wasn’t just another entrepreneur. He had his own way of controlling things, despite being ridiculed for selling low quality stuff, he continued with his sense of order, sparse logic of logistics and above all determination. The concept of super cheap groceries wasn’t invented in the U.S., it was rather invented by the Abrechts. They have their presence in several countries such as Denmark, France, Ireland, UK, Switzerland, Australia and many more. Like most of the others on this list, it started of as a small store which was advertised as the cheapest food source. And now the group operates over 8,000 store worldwide and a store opens roughly every week in Britain alone. Aldi’s specialities include staple items such as food, beverages, toilet paper, sanitary articles and other inexpensive household items. Many of it’s products are own brands, thus leading to greater profits. Also, Aldi is the largest wine retailer in Germany. Originally these shops were ridiculed for being cheap and selling low quality goods, whose customers could not afford to shop elsewhere. However, being held in low esteem didn’t seem to tint their growth.

Also, Aldi has it’s one of a kind mobile virtual network in Germany called Aldi Talk. #6 Schwarz Country of Origin: Germany Retail Revenue: 87,841 million US$ Schwarz Pharma was a bio-pharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development and marketing of pharmaceutical and biotechnological products. It focused on various therapeutic areas such as central neurology, cardiovascular, central nervous system, asthma etc. As of August 2009, the company was overtaken by UCB SA, Brussels. UCB is a bio-pharma manufacturer that promotes neuroscience research. UCB is a US$4 billion company that primarily focuses on R&D, specifically involving medications centered around epilepsy and parkinson’s disease. #5 Costco Country of Origin: U.S.A Retail Revenue: 88,915 million US$ Costco Wholesale Corporation is a membership-only warehouse club that provides a wide selection of merchandise. It is the second largest retailer in the United States and the fifth largest retailer in the world. Also, it is the largest membership club chain in the world. Costco has about 626 stores globally with presence in UK, Australia, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, United States and many more.

In the United States, Costco faces tough competition from “Sam’s Club” owned by Walmart. Although Sam’s Club has more Warehouses but Costco has higher total sales volume. Costco was one of the first companies to grow from 0 to $3 billion mark in just over 5 years. It’s no wonder that it is featured highly on the Fortune 500 list. Over the years, Costco has won the title of the number one in the speciality retail store industry. They focused on selling high volume of products at low price. If the management felt that the wholesale price of a product is too high, they refused to stock the product. For example – The retail giant refused to sell Coca-Cola products when Coca-Cola refused to lower down their Wholesale prices. Later this deal was resumed. Also, they save their money by having a “Customer get your own bag” policy. The domain Costco.com attracts about 60 Million visitors. Costco has also set foot in Travel and Food industry. #4 Kroger Country of Origin: U.S.A Retail Revenue: 90,374 million US$ Kroger is an American Retailer which is the country’s largest grocery store chain. It is the second largest general retailer by revenue.

It operates a variety of store formats namely supermarkets, superstores, departmental stores, convenience stores and mall jewelry stores. It started of as a grocery store founded by Barney Kroger using his savings. Kroger was the son of a merchant, and his slogan was simple: “Be particular. Never sell anything you would not want yourself.” Kroger tried many ways to satisfy customers. He tried to make his own products, such as bread, so that customers would not need to go to a separate bakery. Also it’s a one of its kind grocery store that monitors product quality and tests the foods offered to customers. #3 Tesco Country of Origin: U.K. Retail Revenue: 90.43 billion US$ Tesco is a British Multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer. It is the second largest retailer in the world measured by profits (Just after Walmart). It has its presence in almost 15 countries across Asia, Europe and North America. Just in a few years from its initiation, Tesco was able to expand to a 100 stores across the country with rapid business expansion plans.

Since then it has been diversifying geographically and into areas such as books, clothing, furniture, electronics, petrol, software, financial services, telecom, internet services and the list goes on and on. It has more than 6,351 stores till date. #2 Metro AG Country of Origin: Germany Retail Revenue: 92,905 million US$ Metro AG otherwise known as the Metro Group is a German retailer and wholesale group. It has the largest market share in its home market, and is one of the most globalised retail and wholesale corporations. It has its international presence all over Europe, Asia and Africa. In 2012, the company made a bold move by threatening Microsoft with legal action for infringing on “Metro” trademarks held by Metro AG. “Metro” is the same name as Microsoft’s new “Windows 8-style” user interface. #1 Walmart Country of Origin: U.S.A Retail Revenue: 404 billion US$ Wal-Mart is the undisputed retail leader in North America and tops the global list of retailers, but the company’s international operations in 15 countries outside the United States generate just under 25 percent of annual sales.

Their Slogan “Save Money, Live Better” is very customer friendly. The company is the world’s third largest public corporation, according to the Fortune Global 500 list. The company employs nearly 2 million people and is the biggest private employer worldwide. Wal-Mart has 8,900 stores spanning 15 countries under 55 different names. In India, it operates under the name “Best-Price”. As Wal-mart grew rapidly into the world’s largest corporation, people started criticizing its impact on local stores, particularly small towns with “mom and pop” type stores. Even studies suggested that such an expansion would lead to shutting down of small town shops and local businesses. This was also one of the primary reasons several economies were initially hesitant in allowing them to open up their stores in their country. The primary reason why Wal-mart is famous is because of the considerably low prices offered and that is the reason for its huge base of loyal customers. This truly reflects the “Low prices, always” advertising slogan that Wal-Mart started with. An interesting fact is that a survey suggested that the average income of a customer who shops at Wal-mart is much below the calculated national average.

And if that’s surprising then the next fact is a shocker, about one-fifth of them lack a bank account. Interesting Fact – A poll was conducted after the 2004 US Presidential Elections, which revealed that 76% of voters who shopped at Wal-mart atleast once a week had voted for George.W.Bush, while the rest 23% supported John Kerry. This revealed that in comparison to other voters, Wal-mart shoppers were most politically conservative. Related posts: Informative …. Interesting ….. Looking forward to more from the author. heenan73 The World's Largest Retailers 2016: Wal-Mart Dominates But Amazon Is Catching Up The World's Largest Retailers 2016: Wal-Mart Dominates But Amazon Is Catching Up {{article.article.images.featured.caption}} Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Full Bio The author is a Forbes contributor. The opinions expressed are those of the writer. Loading ... This story appears in the {{article.article.magazine.pretty_date}} issue of {{article.article.magazine.pubName}}. Subscribe (Photo credit: Shutterstock) Amid a shifting retail landscape, still reigns supreme.

The Arkansas-based behemoth is easily the planet's largest retailer and ranks No. 15th on Forbes' Global 2000 list of the world’s biggest and most powerful public companies, as measured by a composite score of revenues, profits, assets and market value. Like other large brick and mortar chains, Wal-Mart has been working to defend its position and relevance. It's shelling out big money to beef up its digital operations and this year announced it would shutter 269 stores in its first-ever mass closing. While these investments have eaten into its bottom line and challenged its stock price, sales continue to move in the right direction and management promises the efforts will pay off. and round out the top three retailers on the Global 2000. 26 images Traditional retailers have been given a run for their money amid a decline in mall traffic and growing consumer preference for shopping online and at discount and fast fashion stores. Take Macy's, which is shutting dozens of stores as part of its belt-tightening measures, which it implemented in the wake of disappointing sales. The department store is still the world's 12th largest retailer, but has slid 105 spots on our list to No. 516.

Kohl's is another traditional store clinging to its status as the 24th largest retailer, but it too has dived 157 spots to No. 809. Meanwhile, e-commerce juggernaut (No. 237) continues to dominate and is now the world's eighth-largest retailer. The Jeff Bezos -led company is aggressively expanding its delivery network to get packages to Prime members faster and recently announced it's getting into private-label groceries. TJ Maxx parent (No. 412) and (No. 741) have also benefited from cost-conscious shoppers looking to snag a bargain, while (No. 459) and parent (No. 310) have attracted shoppers with their affordable and fashionable items. Specialty retailers also continue to do well. Home improvement stores like Lowe's (No. 205) and (No. 112) are a bright spot in retail, as consumers plow money into their abodes. For more coverage of the FORBES Global 2000 ranking of the world’s largest public companies, see below: Analyzing Walmart – The World’s Largest Retailer - Market Realist Interested In Walmart?

What Investors Need To Know PART 1 OF 28 Analyzing Walmart – The World’s Largest Retailer By Phalguni Soni - Disclosure | Feb 18, 2015 9:08 am EST Retail giant Walmart ( WMT ) is a mass merchandiser. It’s the world’s largest retailer. It has over 11,100 stores in ~27 countries. With a market cap of over $275 billion, it ranks among the top ten companies in the S&P 500 Index ( SPY ) 1 . The company generated net sales of over $483 billion worldwide in the last 12 months 2 . That’s more than four times other major companies in the retail industry—Costco ( COST ) at $114.5 billion, Kroger ( KR ) at $106.5 billion, Carrefour SA (CA.PA) ( CRRFY ) in France at $100 billion, Tesco (TSCO.L) ( TSCDY ) in the United Kingdom at $102.6 billion, and Target ( TGT ) at $73.7 billion.

Early history Walmart was founded by the Waltons. Co-founder Sam M. Walton opened a franchise Ben Franklin variety store in Newport, Arkansas in 1945. His brother, James L. Walton, opened another store in Versailles, Missouri the following year. Walmart was incorporated in 1969 in Delaware. In 1962, Walmart’s first discount store, Discount City, started operations in Rogers, Arkansas. The first Sam’s Clubs were established in 1984. Walmart’s first supercenter format started operations in 1988. Walmart’s first overseas venture began in the early 1990s in Mexico. Since then, the company expanded its operations to 25 other countries including the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, China, Canada, Argentina, Chile, India, and parts of Africa and Central America. Fund exposure Walmart’s size, financial strength, and sector orientation mean that the company is included in the portfolio holdings of several ETFs including the SPDR S&P Retail ETF ( XRT ) with an ~1% weight and the SPDR Consumer Staples Select Sector ETF ( XLP ) with an ~7.5% weight, among others.

Additionally, Walmart is a significant part of various consumer staples mutual funds such as the Fidelity Select Consumer Staples portfolio. In this series In this series, we’ll provide an overview and analysis of Walmart, including both operational and financial aspects. We’ll also discuss the returns to investors and stock valuations. We’ll see how these compare to other companies in the retail industry. As on February 13, 2015, Ranked by market cap ↩ Through October 31, 2014. The company’s fiscal year ends January 31 ↩ Consumer Discretionary Performance {"metrics":["Open"],"tickers":["XLY","COST","TGT","WMT","XLP","XRT"],"ticker_names":["Consumer Discretionary SPDR (ETF)","Costco Wholesale Corporation","Target Corporation","Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.","Consumer Staples Select Sect. SPDR (ETF)","SPDR S&P Retail (ETF)"]} X Top 250 Global Retailers | National Retail Federation Top 250 Global Retailers Floating Share Widget SHARE STORES Magazine ’s annual list of the world’s Top 250 Global Powers of Retailing is a ranking of the industry’s biggest players by global retail sales.

Top 250 Global Powers of Retailing 2016 This 19th annual edition identifies the 250 largest retailers around the world based on publicly available data for fiscal 2014 (encompassing companies’ fiscal years ended through June 2015) and analyzes their performance based on geographic region, primary product sector, e-commerce activity and other factors. The report also provides a look at the world’s 50 largest e-retailers, an outlook for the global economy and an analysis of market capitalization in the retail industry, as well as an introduction to and executive summary of findings from Navigating the New Digital Divide: A global summary of findings from nine countries on digital influence in retail . Read more about the Top 250 Global Powers of Retailing 2016 and view this year’s list . Previous Editions Top 250 Global Powers of Retailing 2010 Companies were included in the Top 250 Global Powers of Retailing based on their non-auto retail revenue for fiscal year 2014 (encompasses fiscal years ended through June 2015).

To be included on the list, a company does not have to derive the majority of its revenue from retailing so long as its retailing activity is large enough to qualify. Private equity and other investment firms are not considered as retail entities in this report — only their individual operating companies. A number of sources were consulted to develop the Top 250 list. The principal data sources for financial and other company information were annual reports, SEC filings and information found in company press releases and fact sheets or on company websites. If company-issued information was not available, other public-domain sources were used, including trade journal estimates, industry analyst reports and various business information databases. Much of the data for non-U.S. retailers came from Planet Retail, a leading provider of global intelligence, analysis, news, and data covering more than 9,000 retail and foodservice operations across 211 markets around the world. Planet Retail has offices in London, Frankfurt, Hong Kong and New York. For more information please visit . Group Revenue reflects the consolidated net revenue of a retailer’s parent company, whether or not that company itself is primarily a retailer. Similarly, the income/loss and total assets figures also reflect the consolidated results of the parent organization.

If a privately held company reports gross turnover only, this figure is reported as Group Revenue and footnoted as “g.” Revenue figures do not include operations in which a company has only a minority interest. The Retail Revenue figures in this report reflect only the retail portion of the company’s consolidated net revenue. As a result, they may reflect adjustments to reported revenue figures to exclude non-retail operations. Retail Revenue includes foodservice sales if foodservice is sold as one of the merchandise offerings inside the retail store or if restaurants are located within the company’s stores, but excludes separate foodservice/restaurant operations where it is possible to break them out. Retail Revenue also includes sales of services related to the company’s retail activities, such as alterations, repair, maintenance, installation, fuel sales and membership fees. However, retailers that derive the majority of their retail revenue from the sale of motor fuel are considered to be primarily gas stations and are excluded from Top 250 consideration. Retail Revenue includes business-to-business sales made from retail stores, such as warehouse clubs, cash and carry operations, DIY warehouses, automotive parts stores, etc.

Resources Why Wal-Mart is going after Amazon - Business Insider print REUTERS/Joshua Lott Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the world with $482 billion in annual sales, making it five times as large as its closest rival. But there's one area where the retailer is perpetually beat: ecommerce. Wal-Mart's online sales are a tiny fraction of the size of Amazon's, even though Wal-Mart is five times bigger — and a lot older — than it's ecommerce rival. Wal-Mart's online sales were $12.2 billion in 2014. By comparison, Amazon's were $89 billion. The world's largest retailer is tired of losing to Amazon when it comes to web sales, so it has been pouring billions of dollars into its online operations in recent years. This year, Wal-Mart plans to invest between $1.2 billion and $1.5 billion in its ecommerce business, Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley told analysts in February. The company will spend even more next year, he said. Wal-Mart has been using the money to make its website more user-friendly, open additional ecommerce fulfillment centers around the US, and expand the number of products available for purchase on its website.

Wal-Mart also recently began authorizing store managers to match prices found on Amazon and other websites to better compete with its rivals. And Amazon's growth continues to outpace Wal-Mart's, meaning the retailer is a long way from catching up. BI Intelligence Now the company is using a more direct tactic by attacking Amazon head-on and trying to erode its loyal customer base. After Amazon announced that it would have a Black Friday-style sale for Prime members last week, Wal-Mart stole its fire by offering its own shopping event — starting on the same day — with thousands of online-exclusive discounts. In announcing its sale, Wal-Mart chided Amazon for making "Prime Day" available only to Prime members, who pay $99 a year for free two-day shipping and other perks. "We've heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access to a sale," Walmart.com CEO Fernando Madeira wrote in a blog post. "But the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn’t add up for us.

We're standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save." The attack got a rise out of Amazon, which responded by accusing Wal-Mart of charging customers higher prices in stores than they do online. Residents shop at Walmart as the store prepares for Black Friday in Los Angeles, California. Thomson Reuters Wal-Mart has historically been very aggressive about going after its competitors. According to Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton's book, " Made in America ," the company was built almost entirely off of other retailers' good ideas. "Most everything I've done I've copied from someone else," Walton writes in the book. One of Walton's first jobs in retail was running a franchise for Ben Franklin, a chain of discount stores. While he was running the Ben Franklin store, Walton was obsessed with studying his closest rivals — one of which was located right across the street from his store. "What really drove Sam was that competition across the street — John Dunham over at the Sterling Store," Walton's wife, Helen Walton, recalled in the book. "Sam was always over there checking on John. Always.

Looking at his prices, looking at his displays, looking at what was going on." Later on, when Walton built the first predecessor to Wal-Mart in Bentonville, Arkansas, he copied everything from Ben Franklin — from the accounting system to shelving. "Although we called it Walton's Five and Dime, it was a Ben Franklin's franchise," Walton writes. Walton was manic about following every new idea in retail. "I read an article about these two Ben Franklin stores up in Minnesota that had gone to self-service — a brand-new concept at the time," Walton writes. "I rode the bus all night long to two little towns up there — Pipestone and Worthington. They had shelves on the side and two island counters all the way back. No clerks with cash registers around the store. Just checkout registers up front. I liked it. So I did that too." A shopper in a newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chicago. Thomson Reuters CEO Doug McMillon says copying competitors is still a core part of the company's strategy.

"I mean going all the way back to [Wal-Mart founder] Sam Walton, we had a part of our DNA that was interested in learning from others," McMillon told PBS' Charlie Rose in an interview last year. "Copying good ideas. Don't be so proud that you can't implement a good idea." One of the main competitors of interest to Wal-Mart right now is Amazon, he said. "We believe in learning from other people," McMillon said in the PBS interview. "And what Amazon’s doing and what [Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is] doing is showing us and showing the world what’s possible, and I admire that." When asked what he admired about Amazon's business, McMillon said: "Very customer focused. Moving with speed. Just putting ideas at work that are directly beneficial to customers." The World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains The World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains Search the site The World's Largest U.S. Retail Chains Walmart, Costco, Kroger, Home Depot, Target - Top Retail Revenue Rankings 2015 UPDATE: Newest Largest U.S. Retail Chains List >> The U.S.

maintains its dominance in global retailing on the 2014 list of all world's largest U.S. retail chains. With seven new American retail chains joining the world's largest retailer list, now 33% of the 250 largest retail companies in the world are based in the United States, according to the 2014 Global Powers of Retailing report, which is published each year by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and STORES Magazine . Not only is the retail industry the largest industry in the U.S., retail chains founded in the U.S. are aggressively expanding their retail operations overseas and are becoming more visible, more prevalent, and more dominant on the global retailing stage. Related: What is the World's Largest Retail Store? >> The U.S. companies ranked on this world’s largest list vary somewhat from the annual Fortune 500 list, which is generally focused on publicly traded U.S. retail companies. Included in this global ranking are privately-held companies, as well as government retail operations. Also, the 2014 Global Powers of Retailing report is based on 2012 revenue figures, so it lags behind the latest Retail Fortune 500 rankings.

What the annual Global Powers reports do provide, however, is a global ranking number which provides a comparative perspective on retailing trends worldwide. While the global ranking of the largest U.S. retail chains usually remains relatively unchanged from year to year, there were big shifts in the rankings of the 2014 World's Largest Retailers on the Global Powers list. Some of those big shifts moved the largest U.S. retail chains up in the global retailing ranks, and some of those changes from last year's reports moved U.S. retailers down and off the list of world's largest. None of the most dramatic year-over-year changes for U.S. retailers on the 2014 Global Powers list will be surprising to anyone who closely follows the U.S. retail industry. But the value of the Global Powers list each year is in having an easy reference which reveals how changes in the U.S. retail industry compare to changes with retail industries in countries around the world. The most significant changes between the 2013 and 2014 Global Powers reports for the largest U.S.

retail chains were: Costco became a member of the Top Five Retail Chains in the World club, jumping ahead of Kroger into the #3 position. Kroger maintained its #5 ranking from last year's world's largest list. Amazon rose 7 ranking positions, making it into the top twenty of all retailers in the world in terms of revenue. During the same comparable fiscal year, rival Best Buy's revenue fell, dropping the chain out of the exclusive 20 largest retail chains in the world rankings Seven U.S. retail chains have been included on the 2014 Largest U.S. Retail Chains list, including Michaels, Nike, Demoulas Super Markets, Susser Holdings, Belk, Alberson's and Stater Holdings. Bass Pro Shops is the only U.S. retail chain that dropped off the 2014 list and is no longer one of the 250 largest U.S. retail chains in the world. What follows is a complete list of the U.S. retail chains that were ranked on the 2014 Global Powers of Retailing list.

The number in the left column is the global ranking number assigned to the company, based on its sales figures, compared to other top retail organizations worldwide.

Question: Which is the world's largest retailer ?
Answer: WALMART