Woolworths pipped competitor Coles at the post as the most valuable Australian retail brand, while Harvey Norman’s brand dropped a staggering 27% in value over the past year, according to a study.

Interbrand’s ‘Best Retail Brands’ report shows a shocking decline in value for home and office retailer Harvey Norman, whose chairman Gerry Harvey consistently voiced resistance to online retail in recent years, with its value dropping by 27% to bottom out at US$642 million.

Department store David Jones, which has also been slow to adapt to omni-channel retailing, shed value as well, down 9% to US$512 million. Woolworths topped the list coming in at US$4570 million – year-on-year growth of 9%. Its value was placed at nearly a billion dollars above competitor Coles.

Bunnings, at number three, Big W, in sixth place, Target, in seventh, and Kmart, in eighth, were new entrants into the top 10 this year.

A lack of creativity and differentiation has opened the Australian market up for international retailers and digital entrepreneurs, says Andy Wright, general manager and head of brand experience, Interbrand Sydney.

“Right now, Australia is ripe for disruption,” Wright says. “Global players are seeing the opportunity with the strong dollar, solid economy and Australian consumers losing patience and loyalty with local brands. It might sound extreme, but you can see the rise in parcels from overseas retailers coming into the country. There needs to be a response from Australian retail.”

International retailers Amazon, ASOS, Macy’s, Net-a-Porter and Wiggle are tailoring their ecommerce, supply chain and delivery solutions for the Asia Pacific consumer, creating challenges for home-grown retail brands, the report adds.

Top brands in other countries around the world included:

• Walmart (US)
• Tesco (UK)
• Lululemon (Canada)
• Oxxo (Mexico)
• Natura (Brazil)
• Carrefour (France)
• Aldi (Germany)
• Uniqlo (Japan)
• Suning (China)
• FairPrice (South East Asia, Singapore)
• Lotte Department Store (Korea)

Interbrand’s annual study of what makes retail brands successful found there are four things that successful retail brands have in common:

1. Constant monitoring of customers’ changing needs: To stay relevant strong brands relentlessly pursue knowledge about their consumers and incorporate those insights into their everyday behaviour.
2. A culture of efficient decision-making: The pace of retail and customer expectations around speed continues to increase. To respond, retailers need to build cultures, processes and systems that enable quick decisions.
3. An understanding that experience extends beyond the store: Retail no longer refers to just physical stores, but the complete experience, from channel to service experiences to products. Rather than simply maximising stores at the expense of other channels, top brands think in terms of omni-channel touch points and optimising experience.
4. Optimise, scale and measure: Commitment to ongoing, meaningful measurement and refinement. The need to move quickly can cause retailers to lose sight of tasks aligned with optimisation, scaling and measurement.