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Walmart is the Brand Finance Best Retail Brand 2012 but Amazon.com gains ground as online sales soar

• Walmart retains its status as the world’s most valuable retail brand with a value of $38.3 billion.
• Online giant Amazon.com has a hugely successful year in 2011 thanks to strong revenue figures as their brand value increases by 61%
• eBay jumps up the league table from 14^th to 11^th place as online brands continue to dominate the retail industry
• Tesco named Britain’s most valuable retail brand despite losing a combined $3 billion of brand value alongside Sainsbury’s and Asda

Will online success spell the end of the High Street?

The Best Retail Brands 2012 shows that although Walmart managed to increase their brand value by 6% and be named the Number 1 Retail Brand 2012, the study by Brand Finance plc shows that rivals Amazon.com achieved an impressive 61% increase in brand value. In the past Walmart has been keen to build its online presence to match its control of physical sales but the Best Retail Brands 2012 shows that Amazon.com could soon be dominating the online market.

Two of the highest climbing brands Amazon.com and eBay are businesses based 100% online which demonstrates the size of the online market as well as the enormous success of Amazon.com’s investment in Kindle, a new market for the corporation but a hugely profitable one.

Amazon.com and eBay’s success is thanks to the £50.34 billion, or 12.0% of UK Retail Trade, spent online in 2011. The equivalent figure in 2008 was a mere 8.6% of retail sales (Source: Kelkoo).

David Haigh, CEO of Brand Finance, stated ‘the significance of online retail cannot be underestimated and all major players in the retail industry should turn their attention to the promotion of their online sales in 2012 as the global economic crisis affects spending habits around the world.’ The United Kingdom is the leader in Europe for online retailers and the e-retail market is currently growing at 16% per annum.

Tesco was named the most valuable retail brand in the United Kingdom but, like many other British supermarkets such as Sainsbury’s, suffered a loss in brand value proving that 2011 has been a difficult year for the high street.

For the full list of the Best Retail Brands 2012 visit www.brandirectory.com