Amid rising fears of a potential recession, interest rate hikes and high inflation, the global top 25 retailers by market capitalization (MCap) witnessed a 2.7% decline in their cumulative MCap in Q3 2022, which resulted in a loss of approximately $90 billion, finds GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that the top three US retailers—Amazon, Walmart, and Home Depot—reported growth in their valuation, whereas Chinese retail giants, Alibaba and JD.com, reported a decline of 30.3% and 21.4%, respectively, in Q3 2022 compared to Q2 2022.

Ragupathy Jayaraman, Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The retail industry is marred by uncertainty due to various factors such as volatile global economic conditions, foreign exchange fluctuation and high inflation. However, social commerce, omnichannel solutions, and automated technology are some of the continuing trends in the retail industry.”

Contrary to its performance in the previous quarter, Amazon was the only company among the top 25 retailers to gain around $70 billion in its Q3 valuation. The company is slowly recovering its valuation after making substantial losses during the year. Amazon achieved its estimated sales of $121 billion in Q2 thanks to significant growth in advertising services and revenue from AWS, and the company intends to generate sales between $125–130 billion in Q3 2022.

Jayaraman notes: “Despite mounting inflationary pressures and reduced consumer spending, US retailers Ross Stores and TJX reported growth in their market cap in Q3, while South Korea-based Coupang was able to improve its valuation in the past six months due to its wide range of products and fast shipping times.”

More than 50% of the top 25 global retailers reported a decline in their valuation, which include retail majors Alibaba, Costco, Nike, Inditex, Kroger, and Dollar Tree.

Jayaraman adds: “Alibaba and JD.com witnessed a decline of more than 20% in their valuations in Q3 2022. The Chinese government’s regulatory crackdown on organizations and mass lockdowns in the country continue to raise concerns for e-commerce companies.”