Amazon is in the top ten of this year‘s Kantar Retail PoweRanking Composite report for the first time as trading partners gave the retailer a significant vote of confidence.

The internet retailer was ranked eighth – up from last year‘s position of 14 – and was recognised as a future Power Retailer.

A manufacturer participant commented: “As online shopping continues to grow, Amazon is set up perfectly to continue capturing share of the market. They have an incredible equity and trust with shoppers, what appears to be a solid business model, and strong leadership in place.”

The survey, which benchmarks how over 500 trading partners view each other in key areas of the manufacturer-retailers relationship, points towards the importance of ‘beacon‘ retailers which can anchor future plans in a volatile sales environment.

One major retailer admitted that it won‘t turn around anything in a year. They said: “We need a short-term component of 12-15 months and a longer-burn view of two-five years.”

The largest retailer in the world, Walmart, continued as #1 for the 17th year and continues to stand out for its expertise in supply chain management.

“Walmart will continue to evolve and adjust to consumer/shopper needs. They are open to building strategic partnerships with manufacturers and they capitalize on the available information to build their plans,” said one manufacturer.

Target maintained its second rank in the PoweRanking Composite as manufacturers ranked the US company as #1 in Best to Business With, Innovative Merchandising and Digital Marketing. Target also moved from #4 to #2 in Supply Chain Management.

Walmart regained its top ranking in Category Management/Buying Teams after being edged out by Target in 2012.

The survey said PoweRanking leaders are noted for having great corporate and category visions for growth.