This report marks the 20th year of identifying
the 250 largest retailers around the world and
analyzing their performance across geographies,
sectors, and channels.
Over the last 20 years we have seen a seismic shift
in retail and the customers that retailers serve.
Consider that in 1997, the inaugural year of this report,
today’s average Amazon Prime customer was just
16 years old, AOL was pioneering social media, and
handheld virtual pets were the hottest-selling toys.
Today, handheld (or wearable) digital devices are
ubiquitous and a younger, social customer has come of
age. We are living in an era where customers are in the
driver’s seat more than ever before and they are craving
authenticity, newness, convenience, and creativity. We
are living in the customer-driven economy.