The global retail market generated $26T and is slated to cross the $30T mark by 2024. This was a step against the financial forecasting of a two-year retail slump in most non-essential goods. It led to a growing curiosity about consumer behavior in the retail space.

This article covers the list of top UK retail companies and how they have survived the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. Amazon

Net Value : $1.57T

Headquarters: Seattle, Washington, United States

Founders: Andy Josie

CEO: Jeff Bezos

Founded: 5 July 1994

Amazon is the largest eCommerce company in the world. Its primary revenue sources are eCommerce, cloud computing, and digital streaming.

Amazon UK filed its 2021 sales at $31.9B. It has been heading the list of top UK retail companies for over half a decade. It is part of a small group of companies that saw an uptick in its projected revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monthly unique visitors: 93,336,684
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $5B-$10B

2. ASOS

Net Value: £1.1B

Founded : 3 June 2000, London, United Kingdom

Founders: Nick Robertson, Andrew Reagan, Quentin Griffiths

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

Short for As Seen On Screen, ASOS is one of the most successful online fashion stores globally.

ASOS grew substantially during the COVID-19 lockdown to post revenue of £3B. ASOS has made its name among the top UK retail companies with its growing brand image.

Monthly unique visitors: 5,741,080
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $5B-$10B

3. Argos

Headquarters: Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Founder: Richard Tompkins

Founded: 13 November 1972

Parent organization: Sainsbury's

Global Net sales: $6.2B

Argos is an eCommerce store that primarily functions in the United Kingdom. They serve a wide variety of segments from Electronics, DIY, Furniture, and Toys.

Argos also ranked 2nd in 2021, only behind Amazon in the Toys, Hobby & DIY section in the UK market. This is one of the many reasons it is projected to be one of the best UK retail companies in 2022.

Monthly unique visitors: 5,741,080
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $5B-$10B

4. Gymshark

CEO: Steve Hewitt

Headquarters location: Solihull, United Kingdom

Founders: Ben Francis, Lewis Morgan

Valuation : $1.3B - $1.45B

Gymshark is a fitness apparel brand. It manufactures and retails apparel aimed at the fitness sector. It is one of the leading fitness apparel brands and rapidly grew by over 200 percent before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the year 2020-21, it generated $324.92M in sales. These figures are precisely why it will emerge as one of the largest UK retail brands in 2022.

Monthly unique visitors: 1,740,846
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $500M-$1B

5. TESCO

Headquarters: Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom

CEO: Ken Murphy

Founder: Jack Cohen

Founded: 1919, East End of London

Valuation: $10.7B

Tesco is a multinational company dealing with retailing groceries and appliances through online and brick shops. Its primary revenue is generated in the UK and the US.

The brand is the largest grocery retailer in the UK. Tesco posted total revenue of £53B in 2021.
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Monthly unique visitors: 1,795,371
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $1B-$5B

6. Marks and Spencer

Founded: 1884

Founders: Michael Marks, Thomas Spencer

Headquarters: London, England, UK

CEO: Steve Rowe

Marks and Spencer is one of the leading retail and groceries stores in the UK. The group generated over £779M in 2021, mostly from over 1000 brick and mortar stores. 472 of these shops are based outside the UK.

With over 600 stores in the UK, Marks and Spencer is still one of the biggest UK retail brands of 2022.

Monthly unique visitors: 2,030,159
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $1B-$5B

7. Sainsbury's

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

CEO: Simon Roberts

Founders: John James Sainsbury

Founded: 1869, Holborn

Sainsbury's is a retail supermarket chain best known for its brick stores. It is one of the biggest grocery retailers in the UK.

The company has reported a gross profit of £371M for the 2021-2022 term. The company has also acquired other retail giants, such as Argos (in 2016).

With a healthy growth even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sainsbury's had gross revenue of £28.6B in 2020-21.

Monthly unique visitors: 401,034
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $1B-$5B

8. John Lewis & Partners

Founders: John Lewis

Founded: 1864

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

CEO: Sharon White

John Lewis and Partners are a leading retail chain in the UK. They deal in online and offline retail. They have also recently ventured into the service sector, trading in personal finance and insurance.

JLP generated revenue of £3.7B in 2021. 75% of the company's sales have come from online sales in 2021, showing a seamless transition into the online marketplace during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monthly unique visitors: 2,411,439
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $1B-$5B

9. Burberry

Founders: Thomas Burberry

Founded: 1856, Basingstoke, United Kingdom

Headquarters: London, United Kingdom

CEO: Jonathan Ackroyd

Burberry is a luxury design house dealing with manufacturing and selling high-end fashion apparel. The company was recently valued at €3.9B and posted revenue of £2.3B in 2021.

Surprisingly, Burberry made most of its revenue from sales in the Asia-pacific region compared to the UK in 2021.

Monthly unique visitors: 374,116
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $1B-$5B

10. Currys Plc

Headquarters: Acton, London, United Kingdom

Founder: Henry Curry

Founded: 1884, Leicester, United Kingdom

Owner: Currys Plc

Currys is an electronics retailer mainly based out of the UK and Ireland. The company generated global revenue of $5B in the year 2021.

Currys Plc is the second-largest electronics retailer (15-20% market share) in the UK, behind only Amazon in market share.

Monthly unique visitors: 1,886,922
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $1B-$5B

11. Wayfair

CEO: Niraj Shah

Founded: August 2002, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Founders : Founders: Niraj Shah, Steve Conine

Wayfair is a US-based company that sells furniture and home accessories/appliances. The company has emerged as one of the most significant direct-to-consumer retailers in the UK.

The brand boasted a net revenue of $13.7B though showing a lower gain than the previous year.

Monthly unique visitors: 7,163,301
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $5B-$10B

12. J.D Sports

CEO: Peter Cowgill

Revenue: £6.1B (2021)

Headquarters: Bury, United Kingdom

Founded: 1981, Bury, United Kingdom

J.D. Sports is a sports-fashion retailer based out of the UK. The brand is one of the biggest sports and leisurewear retailers in the UK.

The brand generated revenue of £6.1B in 2021. About 40% of the revenue came from the UK market, while the rest came from global sales.

13. Waitrose

Headquarters: Bracknell, United Kingdom

Revenue: £7.04B  (2021)

Founded: 1904, Acton, London, United Kingdom

Parent organizations: John Lewis & Partners, John Lewis Partnership

Founders: Wallace Waite, David Taylor, Arthur Rose

Waitrose is a groceries supermarket chain in the UK. The John Lewis and Partners group owns it. Waitrose makes sales primarily through their convenience stores and brick stores in the UK.

The company posted revenue of £7.04B in the year 2021. It is slated to become the 8th largest grocery supermarket in the UK as of 2021.

Monthly unique visitors: 289,673
Order Volume: >50,000
Web Sales: $500M-$1B

Conclusion

Once we overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, a major change is likely to be noticed in customer behavior in the future. Consumers may now prefer accessing brick-and-mortar establishments again, owing to the restrictions imposed in the last two years.

The following year may again see a significant change in retail commerce as the world opens up again.