retail

Biggest Retailers: Amazon In; McDonald's Out

The National Retail Federation -- which ranks the 10 biggest U.S. retailers in its STORES Magazine each year -- says Amazon has vaulted into the top 10, bumping out fast-food behemoth McDonald’s. With its domestic sales climbing 27.2% in 2013, up from 2012, the online leader moves up to No. 9 from No. 11 in the prior year’s ranking, which the group says is a reflection of just how passionate Americans have become about online shopping.

Walmart remains in the No. 1 position, based on U.S. sales of $334 billion in 2013. Kroger kept its No. 2 ranking, a spot it has held on to for five years running, with domestic sales of $93 billion. But Costco, powered by a 5.2% gain in sales, climbed a rung to No. 3 and shoved Target down to fourth. (Target’s 2013 sales declined 0.9% in 2013.) Home Depot, Walgreens, CVS Caremark, and Lowe’s each maintained their spots on the list as Nos. 5, 6, 7 and 8, respectively. And grocer Safeway took the 10th spot, after Amazon.

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The ranking is compiled for the NRF by Kantar Retail.

"Amazon’s rise into the top 10 is symbolic of a shift in U.S. retail towards a genuinely multichannel future," says Kantar Retail chief knowledge officer Bryan Gildenberg, in the announcement. "Retailers that command the Top 100 in the future will have an in-depth knowledge of their shoppers across their physical and digital touchpoints, and they'll all have to fend off Amazon’s game-changing economic and operating model."

The magazine reports that Amazon added nearly $10 billion in Internet retail sales last year -- “no small feat, as the increase effectively matched Walmart’s total web sales.” It also notes that brick-and-mortar stores are making Internet strides, with Walmart now ranked the No. 4 performer in online retailing, behind Amazon, Apple and Staples.

Other big movers on this year’s list include Ikea North America, which leaped from 95 to 88, propelled by a 6.8% gain in sales. And Albertsons, based in Boise, catapulted from 96 to 21 as a result of its merger with Safeway. Macy’s and Kohl’s are ranked as the two largest department stores.

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