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.
