Walmart tops brand rankings

Home Depot, CVS and BestBuy rounded out the US top five, on $22bn, $17.3bn and $16.8bn respectively.

Interbrand determines its brand value rankings by tracking each retailer's financial performance, the role each brand plays in consumers' purchase decisions and the ability of the brands to secure future earnings.

The latest report suggested that the most successful brands on the rankings are those that are successfully integrating their digital activities, such as e-commerce sites, with their in-store activities.

Consumer spending via online platforms, as a proportion of total consumer retail expenditure, was found to have risen from 7% in 2011 to 9% in 2012.

"Best Retail Brands understand that every channel matters in the new landscape – and prove that though a multichannel approach is certainly more complex, if done strategically, it pays off," said Interbrand's global CEO Jez Frampton.

More generally, Interbrand suggested that competition in the retail sector was intensifying worldwide, upping the ante for firms that are willing to innovate.

Bruce Dybvad, CEO of Interbrand Design Forum, which helped to compile the report, added: "The best brands didn't stand idly by, waiting for further signs of recovery. They contributed to it by anticipating their customer's desire to return – not to shopping as usual – but to something better."

The report also tracked the most valuable brands in other global regions. Global and Japanese players dominated the Asia-Pacific rankings, with Woolworth's top on $4.2bn and Uniqlo second on $2.9bn.

In Europe, Tesco was the number one-ranked brand in the UK on just over $11bn, with Marks & Spencer and Boots in second and third places, valued at $6.3bn and $2.9bn respectively.

Carrefour ($11.1bn), Aldi ($3.1bn) and Zara ($8.1bn) came first in France, Germany and Spain respectively.