With the help of digital commerce, US retail chains achieved growth of up to 35% in recent months. The pandemic changed the behavior of consumers, moving them away from physical points and familiarizing them with other purchasing methods such as e-commerce, which for companies that were strong in this model, or managed to implement it, became a sales driver. One of the sectors that benefited the most was that of retail chains, companies that are dedicated to commercializing products on a large scale. As reflected in the 2020 version ranking of BrandZ, WWP and Kantar, it would have achieved a 23% growth in brand value, totaling some US $ 870,729 million. Costco, the US discount retail chain, achieved the highest growth of all the companies in this category, 35% compared to 2019, and reached a brand value of US $ 28,677 million, a figure that places it in fifth place in the ranking by value. Amazon, is the most valuable in the world and in retail with a value of US $ 415,855 million. Regarding its value, in 2019 it achieved a growth of 32% and is located in second place. The multinational does not stop, and that is why yesterday the value of its shares exceeded US $ 3,000, with which they accumulate an increase of 65% so far this year. The third place is shared by the American Walmart and the Chinese JD, which grew 24% in brand value. The late Sam Walton's company, Walmart, reached a value of US $ 45,783 million in 2020, this positions it as the fourth most valuable retail brand in the world. JD, another of the large Chinese companies is in sixth place by value with a total of US $ 25,494 million. The fourth place in growth is held by Alibaba.com, a company that is part of the Alibaba Group consortium, which is currently led by businessman Daniel Zhang, on September 24 the value of the company's shares reached US $ 269.61. The company has other subsidiaries in the e-commerce sector such as Lazada, Baraj and Alibaba Cloud. The brand achieved a value of US $ 152,525 million with an increase of 16% in the last year. The American company Home Depot is in third place in the BrandZ ranking by value but in the fifth place by growth, unlike the other two brands that target diverse products, it specializes in the sale of construction materials and DIY. Home Depot, founded by Arthur Blank and Bernard Marcus, increased its price by 8% for this year, bringing the value of the brand to US $ 57,585 million. As of September 24, the company's share price was US $ 265.7; a little lower than a month ago when it reached US $ 286.12. In that fifth place are also Aldi with growth of 8%. The German supermarket chain ranked eighth in the ranking by value and reached a brand value of US $ 15,927 million. Ebay closed the top 10 with a growth of 2% compared to 2019 and reached a brand value of US $ 11,767 million for this year. As for the brands that lost value are Lowe's and Ikea. Lowe's, also dedicated to home and DIY products, ranked ninth on the list by brand value, but contracted -8% compared to 2019. Its price was US $ 13,717 million for this year. For its part, Ikea, the famous company that manufactures furniture and that will be in Colombia in the coming years, had a 5% loss in value. According to the ranking, the brand costs US $ 18,017 million this year. For analysts, it is very likely that these brands, like those of technology, continue to have a favorable performance in the remainder of the year.
