Interbrand, the leading brand consultancy and authors of the annual Best Global Brands ranking of the top 100 world’s most valuable brands, have turned their attention to the global retail sector.

2011 Best Retail Brands ranks the top 50 U.S. retail brands by brand value, as well as the top retail brands from Asia Pacific, Canada, the U.K., France, Germany, and Spain. The U.S. brands are valued for the third time in collaboration with Interbrand Design Forum, the retail experience group within Interbrand.

Walmart is the most valuable retail brand for the third consecutive year in the U.S, while Woolworths, Shoppers Drug Mart, Tesco, Carrefour, ALDI and Zara are ranked as the number one retailer in their respective markets.

Findings show that U.S. retailers are leading on the road to recovery much as the U.S. was first affected by the economic downturn in 2008. Across Europe, retailers are harder pressed to generate value from cashstrapped consumers and Asian retailers are presented with both opportunities and challenges as markets expand consumers’ preferences.

“Consumer confidence has been returning, yet people have been fundamentally changed by the recession, with markets opening up and rapid advances in technology that influence how and where people shop. For retailers, this means having to create new, exciting opportunities to truly connect with more skeptical and esavvier customers,” said Jez Frampton, Global Chief Executive of Interbrand.

The most prominent global retail trends gaining relevancy across the sector include:

• Digital Growth: Technology is shaping new opportunities and consumers want their retail experience to be as seamless as possible. By listening to customer’s feedback, brands like Macy’s are aligning R&D with innovation, and extending their brand to sleek iPad apps, and interactive micro-sites.

• Human Presence: Brands with genuine character, definite core values, and a concern for community are likely to profit the most. Corporate citizenship practices are becoming more common and hold the promise of becoming differentiating factors in the decision-making process. Marks & Spencer is forging ahead with plans to become the world’s most sustainable retailer by 2015.

• Global expansion: Retail brands must view their competition as both local and global. Many retailers are establishing an international presence, while multichannel initiatives are becoming a crucial to develop segmented markets. Zara has strengthened its presence in Asia and America, and has plans to enter Australia and South Africa in the year ahead.

In its report, Interbrand shares the global insights into the trends set by the retailers in a number of countries. For instance, according to the report, in the United States, brand-led companies prove resilient, responding rapidly to the downturn while taking advantage of its opportunities. Experts predict that Canadian brands will soon have to leverage their national heritage to compete with US entrants into the Canadian market. In France, the trend of smaller multichannel shops is gaining power as these shops use the multichannel experience to foster long-term customer engagement. German retailers are advised by Interbrand expert to adandon their ‘Cheap is cool’ strategy and switch to «sound corporate citizenship and smaller shop concepts». Speaking of Spain, Interbrand speaks favorably of such fashion brands as Mango and Zara that combine excellent local adaptation with global expansion, which might be used as a recipe for the brand success in the modern-day world. Speaking of the brands in Asia Pacific, they are still going through the stage of the new value perception in after-crisis Asia as consumers are becoming «smarter, savvier, and more demanding».

The Top 10 Most Valuable U.S. Retail Brands 2011 include:

1. 1. Walmart (142,030 $m)
2. 2. Target (3,301 $m)
3. 3. The Home Depot (20,315 $m)
4. 4. Best Buy (18,823 $m)
5. 5. CVS (16, 561 $m)
6. 6. Walgreens (14,443 $m)
7. 7. Sam’s Club (12,400 $m)
8. 8. Coach (11,588 $m)
9. 9. Amazon.com (9,665 $m)
10. 10.   Dell (8,880 $m)

To view top 50, please follow this link.

For the full version of the report, please visit Interbrand’s website.