Our Methodology
Every year RetailX benchmarks the eCommerce and multichannel performance of thousands of retailers worldwide across the Customer, Product, Operations, and Capital value chains.
Footprint
Inclusion in RetailX Rankings is based on the size, or ‘Footprint’, of retailers: their impact in terms of search volume, visits, stores, social reach and turnover.
The rankings include the largest retailers in the given region (e.g. the European Economic Area plus the UK and Switzerland for the EU1000 and worldwide for the Global1000). Assessment is based on their retail operations within the region as opposed to wholesaling or other non-retail activities.
We take into account retail revenues, both online and offline, the number of stores, the volume of web traffic to retail websites, and the popularity and use of apps to give each retailer a Footprint value.
Performance and Value Chains
Our rankings are based on performance – the services that retailers offer the consumer – and how that performance is rewarded via revenues, profile and profit. Four Value Chains drive this performance:
1. The Customer Value Chain: Retail businesses that stand out in the Customer Value Chain do so when they add value through a strong customer experience. The primary KPI for this value chain is measured by profit per customer
2. The Product Value Chain: Retail businesses stand out in the Product Value Chain when they put a strong focus on selling at a profit. The primary KPI in this value chain is net margin.
3. The Operations Value Chain: Retailers that stand out in the Operations Value Chain do so when they manage both their orders and their fulfilment effectively and profitably
4.The Capital Value Chain: Retailers and brands that stand out in the Capital Value Chain do so by growing their profits and assets successfully. The primary KPIs for this value chain are return on capital employed (ROCE) or invested (ROCI).
KPIs
Each Value Chain is assessed across nine KPIs, with RetailX metrics assigned as indicators against each of 36 combinations of Value Chain and KPI. For the purposes of our rankings, we focus on the following KPIs in assessing the operations in each Value Chain:
- Access: how to access the market, customers, products and capital.
Volume: how to get more of everything. More customers, traffic, product, capital and capacity. - Margin: how to increase the margin on interactions.
- Conserve: eliminating margin-destroying waste.
- Share: increasing share of attention, customers, products and wallets.
- Choice: how to make the best use of scarce resources when buying, marketing and running operations.
We also look at how organisations can flex, adapt and improve the business operating model: (optimising process flows and capabilities), change and innovation practice and capital access, performance and creation.
Research Parameters
The several hundred performance metrics we track are assigned, along with a relative weight, to one or more value chain KPI combinations, where they serve as ranking signals of retailers’ performance. Occasionally, metrics are negative against one KPI and positive against another in the same value chain:
- Corporate: revenue, profitability, EBITDA, share price, market capitalisation, number of employees, ownership of the company.
- Customer service: speed and helpfulness of responsiveness to simple questions; access channels.
- Checkout friction: speed and simplicity of sign-in/ sign-up and payment, number of interactions from add to basket to completed sale.
- Finding the store: number and spread of stores, stock visibility on website, ratings and reviews.
- Finding the website: number of visitors, duration of time on-site and bounce rate, search visibility, Google Lighthouse assessments, ratings and reviews.
- Fulfilment: flexibility, reliability, and speed of delivery and collection
- Localisation: language, currency, customer service, seasonality/sales cycles.
- Mobile app: availability, popularity and usage, usability and functions.
- Returns: clarity and visibility of policy and its length and terms, convenience and cost to the customer.
- Social media: presence, availability, the nature of interaction.
- Sustainability: independent standards signed up to, commitments and verified compliance, transparency of product supply chains (social and environmental impact), and support for mending/repair/recycling of products sold.
- Website usability: intuitiveness of navigation and product selection, Google Lighthouse assessments.
Rankings
The final ranking of the list combines both Footprint with the Value Chain results of all retailers in the list to produce a ranking where retailers are listed alphabetically within performance clusters.
Overall performance chart
This chart shows a retailer’s overall performance in the RetailX Performance Index in a given region, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector. Optionally, users can use the compare function to compare an additional retailer, where that retailer also belongs to the ranking.
Customer performance chart
Retail businesses that stand out in the Customer Value Chain do so when they add value through a strong customer experience
Research considers how retail businesses add value to their businesses through customer service. Researchers consider the tools that retailers, brands and marketplaces use first to win and then retain customers, while encouraging them to spend more and more often. That starts with how retailers give shoppers access to their products, win a larger volume of customers and make more margin through every purchase. They can grow their business by increasing their share of a market or category, while making the most of sales opportunities. For example, when shoppers visit the website, they are more likely to buy when they can easily find the product they want to buy, as well as when there are fewer out-of-stock search results. Tools such as recommendations and navigational filters help to signpost the most relevant products. Finally, the research reflects the way that retailers successfully foster growth by focusing on the returns from each customer, from each visit and email as well as more widely from marketing spend. The primary KPI for this value chain is measured by profit per customer.
This chart shows a retailer’s overall performance in the Customer Value Chain Performance Index in a given region, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector.
Product performance chart
Retail businesses stand out in the Product Value Chain when they put a strong focus on selling at a profit
Researchers investigate the tools that retailers, brands and marketplaces use to show website visitors the most relevant products and sell them profitably. The primary KPI in this value chain is net margin, with the importance of selling at scale for a profit reflected in the metrics of volume, access and margin. The conserve metric reflects how retailers preserve value by reducing waste.
This chart shows a retailer’s overall performance in the Product Value Chain Performance Index in a given region, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector.
Operations performance chart
Retailers that stand out in the Operations Value Chain do so when they manage both their orders and their fulfilment effectively and profitably
The primary KPI for the Operations Value Chain is profit per order, reflecting the importance of winning more customers in order to cut the cost per sale of retail operations. The RetailX research is based around assessing the ways in which retailers engage with as many shoppers and potential shoppers as possible. That’s both about using stores to raise brand awareness and offering convenient delivery options, whether that’s offering collection from a wide variety of points, or delivering as quickly as possible.
This chart shows a retailer’s overall performance in the Operations Value Chain Performance Index in a given region, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector.
Capital performance chart
Retailers and brands that stand out in the Capital Value Chain do so by growing their profits and assets successfully.
The primary KPIs for this value chain are return on capital employed (ROCE) or invested (ROCI). This year, the focus of RetailX research in this value chain is about how retailers choose to serve their customers, whether through stores, websites or mobile apps, and how they tackle sustainability.
Retailers’ Overall Performance is a combination of their performance across the four value chains and their Footprint significance.
Performance is optimised when we extract the maximum profit per customer from the greatest customer base, selling products for the highest margin, at the lowest cost to serve.This chart shows a retailer’s overall performance in the Capital Value Chain Performance Index in a given region, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector.
Total revenue chart
Gross profit chart
Revenue growth chart
Total web visits chart
This chart shows the total web visits to a retailer’s ecommerce websites, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector. Optionally, users can use the compare function to compare an additional retailer, where that retailer also belongs to the ranking. In the generic view, this chart shows global web traffic, whereas in the ranking-comparison it shows region-specific totals. SimilarWeb (similarweb.com) is the source of this data.
Year-on-year web visits chart
This chart shows year-on-year growth in web visits to a retailer’s ecommerce websites, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector. Optionally, users can use the compare function to compare an additional retailer, where that retailer also belongs to the ranking. In the generic view, this chart shows global web traffic, whereas in the ranking-comparison it shows region-specific totals. SimilarWeb (similarweb.com) is the source of this data.
Pages per visit chart
This chart shows the average number of pages a visitor views on a retailer’s ecommerce websites, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector. Optionally, users can use the compare function to compare an additional retailer, where that retailer also belongs to the ranking. In the generic view, this chart shows the global averages, whereas in the ranking-comparison it shows region-specific totals. SimilarWeb (similarweb.com) is the source of this data.
Average visit time chart
This chart shows the average duration of a visitor to a retailer’s ecommerce websites, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector. Optionally, users can use the compare function to compare an additional retailer, where that retailer also belongs to the ranking. In the generic view, this chart shows the global averages, whereas in the ranking-comparison it shows region-specific totals. SimilarWeb (similarweb.com) is the source of this data.
Delivery convenience chart
This chart shows a retailer’s overall performance in the Fulfilment Convenience Performance Index in a given region, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector. Optionally, users can use the compare function to compare an additional retailer, where that retailer also belongs to the ranking.
Returns convenience chart
This chart shows a retailer’s overall performance in the Returns Convenience Performance Index in a given region, compared to peers in the same ranking and the subset from the ranking that belong to the same sector. Optionally, users can use the compare function to compare an additional retailer, where that retailer also belongs to the ranking.
Sectors chart
Public vs private chart
Business type chart
Headquarters chart
This chart shows the percentage of retailers with their operational retail headquarters in a country. Note that this is distinct from the corporation’s registered jurisdiction, or, if applicable, where the holding company is based if the holding company isn’t involved in day-to-day retail decisions. The purpose is to find where the retail decision-makers are – where the (retail) board meets and where campaigns and purchase decisions are made, for example.
