Amazon regains its crown as most valuable global retail brand in the 2016 BrandZ Top 100

Amazon has become the World’s Most Valuable Global Retail Brand in the 2016 BrandZ™ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking, released today by WPP and Millward Brown.

The year saw Amazon expand its reach into the logistics sector by shipping its own packages. It also extended the brand experience to include new technology devices that cater for consumers’ personal needs at home, building on last year’s introduction of Amazon Dash, automated replenishment buttons for key FMCG items. These activities paved the way to the company boosting its brand value by 59% to just under $100bn.

It replaces Chinese e-tailer Alibaba, which now takes the number two spot in a retail sector that has performed extremely strongly overall with an 8% rise in total value to $377bn for the Top 20 brands.

The ability to drive seamless multichannel strategies was a key factor behind the success of many of the brands that have grown their value in this year’s Retail Top 20. This is a process that will have to continue as the sector adapts to a consumer audience that no longer distinguishes between shopping on- and off-line and expects the same brand experience and quality of service in all channels.

Over the next five years, successful retail brands will have to respond to these demands by reducing friction in the online world, improving delivery times as well as creating physical environments that are as much about retail theatre as selling.

The goal is to create a new definition of 21st century service that will redefine retail in the next five years. IKEA is one of the brands that understands the importance of this, with plans to significantly expand its e-commerce business and improve the logistics of delivering goods to customers to build an online business with a strong service and distribution offer that seamlessly links with its physical estate.

David Roth, CEO EMEA and Asia, The Store WPP, said, “Consumers no longer perceive shopping online and shopping on the high street as discrete activities. The challenge for retailers is to make moving between the two channels a seamless experience. The next five years will be pivotal for retailers as they look to ensure they have frictionless experience wherever consumers choose to shop."

The BrandZ Top 20 Most Valuable Retail Brands 2016