Under Armour Debuts as No. 1 in Annual Study on Most Competitive Retailers

W Ratings Corporation, an independent competitive research firm, and Capgemini US LLC, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology, and outsourcing, announced today the results of their annual ‘Most Competitive Retailers Study’. The study measures the ability for retailers to simultaneously meet consumer expectations and deliver superior profits. According to this year’s ratings of 120+ market leading retailers, Under Armour ranks as No. 1 in their first year of measurement with a Competitive Rating™ (CR) of 95.6. Victoria’s Secret and Bed, Bath & Beyond tied at No. 2 with a CR of 92.3. The co-branded Capgemini W Report identifies companies “winning” with both consumers and shareholders by utilizing patented methods from W Ratings.

The research team interviewed 6,000+ consumers about more than 120 retailers they had frequented in the past six months. Each company’s performance was rated across nine sources of competitive advantage. Those ratings were combined with each company’s trailing five-year average economic profits to calculate the Competitive Rating™ (CR) for every retailer.

Gary A. Williams, CEO and Founder of W Ratings Corporation, revealed the top 20 most competitive retailers at the Retail Leaders Circle at Oracle OpenWorld in San Francisco. They are:

“Only six of the top 20 retailers from 2006 remained in the 2007 rankings,” said Gary A. Williams, CEO and Founder of W Ratings. “No doubt that the retail environment remains a difficult industry to make money on a consistent basis. Yet, certain companies are finding ways to do just that by incorporating strategies from outside their core industry. For example, Starbucks has been extending their routine reliance – one of the nine sources of competitive advantage – from coffee and food to wireless access and music. This strategy not only reinforces their brand with consumers as the ‘third place’ besides work and home, but also builds on the successful network effect of Apple’s iTunes.”

“Making this top 20 list is a significant achievement for a retailer,” added Brian Girouard, Global Leader of the Retail and Consumer Products Practice for Capgemini. “Recent Capgemini research suggests that consumers are largely dissatisfied with both online and traditional shopping environments. These top 20 retailers are exceeding consumer expectations and delivering sustainable economic benefits to their shareholders. This type of performance is difficult to achieve in today’s competitive market.”

The 2007 edition of Most Competitive Retailers provides a breakdown of the top 20 retailers and spotlights several of the successful strategies in use today. To download your complimentary copy of the study go to www.us.capgemini.com.

About The Research from W Ratings

The W Report series identifies companies “winning” with both consumers and shareholders by utilizing patented methods from W Ratings Corporation, an independent competitive research firm based in metro Washington DC. Gary A. Williams, CEO & Founder, and his team have been conducting primary research on an original set of leading indicators that measure competitive advantage since 1999. Through Gary’s patented research system (US Patent 6,658,391), the team measures how well companies are delivering on consumer expectations and then correlate their performance with economic profits. Gary and his team continually analyze 500+ market leading companies with 25+ million data points collected using his common framework. The research provides strategic, technological and operational insights about how today’s best companies tap into unmet customer demand and build competitive advantage.

W Ratings studies ten sectors of the US economy: Automotive, Energy/Utilities & Gas, Financial Services, Grocery & Convenience Stores, Media & Entertainment, Pharmaceutical, Restaurant & Beverages, Retail & Goods, Telecommunications and Travel & Leisure. For more information, contact 703-788-6532 or info@wratings.com, or visit www.wratings.com.

About Capgemini

Capgemini, one of the world's foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, enables its clients to transform and perform through technologies. Capgemini provides its clients with insights and capabilities that boost their freedom to achieve superior results through a unique way of working, which it calls the Collaborative Business Experience. Capgemini reported 2006 global revenues of EUR 7.7 billion (approximately US$10 billion) and employs more than 80,000 people worldwide. More information is available at http://www.us.capgemini.com.

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