Adidas, Apple, H&M, New Look and Nike are named Eiite brands in this year’s RetailX Brand Index, published in association with Amazon Pay.
The index 2019, now in its third year, ranks the top 250 direct-selling retail brands from across the 32 countries of European Economic Area, plus Switzerland.
Now available online, the report ranks brands by their footprint and through six Performance Dimensions: Strategy & Innovation, The Customer, Operations & Logistics, Merchandising, Brand Engagement and Mobile & Cross-channel, all explored in detail in the report. Top250 direct-selling are ranked in six categories from Elite, Leading and Top50 through to Top250 in order to give new insights into the way brands are performing across Europe.
Editor-in-chief Ian Jindal says this year’s report comes at a fascinating moment, reflecting fast change in retail both within Europe and around the world. Today, he says, direct-selling brands can reach much more easily into international markets – but must also contend with rising consumer expectations such as free next-day delivery.
He says: “The last year has seen many successful direct-selling brands – indeed, retailers in general – looking in detail at the nuts-and-bolts areas of multichannel retail, such as fulfilment ad warehousing. Yet we would argue that focusing in too closely on operational issues carries risks. The idea of selling excitement is a retail constant. Too much focus on operational matters if bad strategy if it comes at the expanse of merchandising and the customer experience.”
The report takes an in-depth look at how brands must now compete in areas from delivery to social media, and at changing attitudes towards brands among different generations of shoppers. RetailX research considers how leading European brands serve shoppers and how levels of service have changed since last year, while case studies on Elite brand New Look and Leading brand Nespresso look at how two very different brands are making their presence felt in a large market.
