Ikea has come out on top in a survey of the world’s most trusted retail brands released at World Retail Congress today.

In a study by the Ebeltoft Group of international retail consultants and led by the French firm Dia-Mart, the Swedish furniture giant came top when consumers were asked which retailer they trusted most.

11,000 consumers were questioned in total - 1,000 each in 11 countries - and they were asked for their views on 20 companies. In all the countries except the US, where it was 12th, Ikea came in the top three. It ranked first in Canada, France, Italy and Spain, as well as its home market of Sweden.
The best performing store by type were department stores, with the biggest surprise, according to Dia-Mart chairman and co-founder Cedric Ducrocq, being that food stores were the worst performing category, despite the high frequency of visits.

As well as Ikea, other top performers include Bang & Olufsen, which came top in both its native Denmark and in Norway. The most trusted brand in the US, and the only food retailer to be named top in any of the countries, was Whole Foods, while in the UK partnership owned department store chain John Lewis came out on top. Entertainment retailer Saraiva beat rival Fnac to the top spot in Brazil, while perfumery Douglas was Germany’s winner.

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