20240713 Morning Post

Recently, the National Retail Federation (NRF) released its ranking of the 100 U.S. retailers for 2024, based on U.S. retailer sales.

1. U.S. Retail Industry Rankings and Trends for 2024
According to the list data, of the top 100 retailers in 2024, the top 20 remain largely unchanged. Only CVS and Target switched places between No. 6 and No. 7, and there were some minor moves in the top 100.
Among these retailers, Walmart has held the No. 1 position, with $533 billion in U.S. sales. At No. 20, 7-Eleven still brought in $278.8 billion in sales. Of The top 20 Companies, only five lost money - The Home Depot, Target, Lowe's Companies, Apple Stores/iTunes and Best Buy - though the losses were smaller. These companies are so large and well funded that they can easily maintain their position with the capital they have available.

2.Impact of mergers and acquisitions on the development of retailers

In addition, mergers and acquisitions are one of the important ways many top retailers grow, and this is reflected in the Top 100 list. Overstock.com, for example, saw a 135.1% increase in sales, largely due to its acquisition of Bed Bath & Beyond's online operations.

At the same time, Walmart is the only company that has grown by selling companies. While increasing sales, it also sold brands such as Moosejaw, plus-size womenswear brand Eloquii and menswear company Bonobos.
More M&A activity is expected in the future for two reasons: Many companies have enough capital or access to capital, but not enough scale and need to have enough scale to negotiate with suppliers. This is especially evident in small companies, especially in the grocery industry. Some companies use mergers and acquisitions to gain scale and efficiency. Raley's Supermarkets, for example, acquired Bashas' in 2021 and saw a slight increase, holding on to 77th place with a slight increase of 0.3%; Tops and Price Chopper/Market announced their merger in 2021, saying the combination would bring scale and efficiency gains. Separately, the grocery sector had a strong showing in the top 20, taking six spots.

3.Store growth is an important sign

While sales growth is an important indicator, U.S. store growth is another sign to watch. Sprouts Farmers Market, a grocer with natural and vitamin divisions whose prices are competitive with mainstream supermarkets, saw its number of stores grow 5.4 percent to 407 in 2023, while sales rose 6.8 percent to $6.84 billion. Number 65 on the top 100 list. Sprouts has long-term growth potential, though it's not the fastest expanding on the list.

4.Development strategy and experience of giant retailers
Walmart, Amazon and Costco are three big retailers worth learning from, all of which have achieved steady growth by setting and sticking to their own paths, while drawing on cross-country and innovative experiences, such as Costco's performance outside the United States is very, very good; Amazon keeps investing in special projects and moonshots to turn a profit; Walmart will revamp its entire chain and prepare to expand into financial services.

We can learn a lot from these Top 100 companies and understand how they have thrived in response to various trends