H&M most valuable retail brand in Europe

Interbrand published its ‘Best Retail Brands’ list for the fourth time and this year it seems that Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is Europe’s most valuable retail brand. The original Swedish fashion company is ranked as the top retailer in Europe with 13.11 billion euros. The world’s most valuable retail brand is Walmart, which has an estimated brand value of 95.15 billion euros.

The “Best Retail Brands 2014” list focuses on brands from the whole retail sector, so not on online retail brands exclusively, but when you look at the top brands in Europe, you’d notice almost all of these brands are also selling online.  In its report, Interbrand says about Europe that ecommerce accounts for an estimated 5% of all retail sales. “Traditional retailers such as Zara, John Lewis, Carrefour and Fnac are catching up with digital pure players.” It also emphasizes the popularity of drive-through hypermarkets. “This format has become one of the secret weapons for food retailers to protect their business and build on the strenght of their brand.”

Busy expanding ecommerce
About H&M, Interbrand says: “The fast fashion giant keeps exciting consumers worldwide with its brand promise of stylish apparel at affordable prices. […] As it expands into India, Australia and the Philippines this year, H&M will extend ecommerce beyond select European markets and the United States.” IKEA, another huge player from Sweden, is number two with a brand value of 9.97 billion euros. “It’s busy expanding ecommerce, now in half of its global markets, and investing in digital.”

The top 10 is completed by the other European giants: Zara (Spain), Carrefour (France), Tesco (UK), M&S (UK), Auchan (France), Boots (UK), Aldi Markt (Germany) and Sephora (France). Online apparel retailer ASOS (#29, +59%) emerged as the ‘top riser’ among the apparel brands – having increased sales 37% in the last quarter of last year.