7-Eleven Among 2015 Most Valuable Global Brands

DALLAS — 7-Eleven Inc. is moving up in the world, landing on the 2015 BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands list.

The Dallas-based retailer took the No. 17 spot with its nearly $7.5-billion brand value. This is the first year 7-Eleven, which operates, franchises or licenses a total of 10,500 convenience stores in North America, appeared on the list.

In this year's 10th annual BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands ranking, released May 27 by WPP and Millward Brown, the most valuable retail brands lack physical stores. Chinese e-tailer Alibaba jumped into the top spot of the retail ranking after its initial public offering, overtaking Amazon and adding its $66.4-billion brand value to the sector. Retail is now one of the fastest growth categories alongside technology, according to a BrandZ release detailing the rankings.

"As retailers continue to fight off fierce price competition and operate in a category undergoing a radical transformation, there's an underlying urgency to remain relevant to shoppers," said Elspeth Cheung, Global BrandZ Valuation Director at Millward Brown. "Adopting a shopper-first attitude is not enough; retailers also need to create meaningful and differentiated brands if they want to find a path to growth."

The 2015 rankings also highlight a trend toward convenience. According to the release, saving shoppers' time and adopting a "customer-first" attitude continues to boost retail brand values.

Food retailers such as Walmart (No. 3) and 7-Eleven capitalized on this with small-format stores, while Macy's (No. 18) also played to this trend as a one-stop shop. In addition, Amazon (No. 2) experimented in New York with a one-hour delivery service called PrimeNow.