Amazon, Costco are ‘most admired’ retailers
Amazon, Costco and CVS have been named to FORTUNE’s top 50 “World’s Most Admired Companies” of 2018.
Amazon took second place behind Apple, with Costco nabbing No. 12 and CVS taking No. 35. The top 10 is rounded out by Berkshire Hathaway, Starbucks, Walt Disney, Microsoft, Southwest Airlines, Fedex and JPMorgan Chase.
“We began with a universe of about 1,500 candidates: the 1,000 largest U.S. companies ranked by revenue, along with non-U.S. companies in Fortune’s Global 500 database that have revenues of $10 billion or more,” said FORTUNE Magazine. “We then winnowed the assortment to the highest-revenue companies in each industry, a total of 680 in 29 countries. The top-rated companies were picked from that pool of 680; the executives who voted work at the companies in that group.”
According to CNN Money, the e-commerce behemoth may be gobbling up brick and mortar businesses left and right, but Amazon.com's customer-centric culture and super-convenience has won the company millions of shoppers worldwide. And Amazon's ambitions show no signs of abating: It recently jumped into the art market, and has started producing video, music, and literary content. Revenues are impressive, but the Street is growing impatient for Amazon to post big profits.
While Costco had once lagged behinds its rivals in ecommerce, last year’s partnership with Instacart is now ready to turn that around. The company expected to expand its two-day dry and same day fresh grocery delivery to all 519 U.S. locations by the end of 2018. Comparable sales were up 6.5 percent in the first 31 weeks of its fiscal year, helping to stave off concerns that the bulk retailer is losing millennial customers to competitors such as Target and Amazon Prime. And membership still has its benefits: The bulk of Costco’s operating income comes from fees generated by its 90 million members.
CVS Health has taken a number of steps to strengthen the health of communities nationwide, including helping to solve for the nation's opioid epidemic. CVS Health has increased access to safe medication disposal units inside many CVS Pharmacy locations, and has donated additional disposal units to police departments across the country. By the end of 2019, the company will have more than 2,700 in place, which have collected more than 650,000 pounds of unused medications that could otherwise be diverted, abused or contaminate the water supply if disposed of improperly. In addition, our pharmacists throughout the U.S. have reached 450,000 students and parents, educating them on the dangers of prescription drug abuse through a program called Pharmacists Teach.
"CVS Health is proud to once again be recognized by FORTUNE, as we work to transform the consumer health care experience and build healthier communities," said Larry J. Merlo, CVS Health president and CEO. "As health care innovators, we're committed to making health care more local, affordable and easier to use for individuals and families across the country, while supporting communities with the resources and solutions they need to address their unique health care needs. That commitment and our recognition as one of the "World's Most Admired Companies" are reflected in the dedication of our 300,000 colleagues who deliver everyday on our purpose of helping people on their path to better health."