The 10 Most Popular Brands That People Can’t Get Enough of

It feels like it’s human nature to possess at least a bit of brand loyalty. If you find a product you like, you probably want to keep buying it. Brand loyalty is certainly a part of what fuels the world’s most popular companies.

We’ve rounded up 10 of them in this article to examine what they do and what makes them so popular.

Amazon began as a bookseller. The year was 1995, and online shopping was still a pretty novel idea. The company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, saw the early potential in online shopping and gave it the broad name of “Amazon” so that it could expand beyond books if need be.

As we all know, Amazon today sells much, much more than just books. Amazon owns more than 40 brands and subsidiaries, including Whole Foods and Twitch. It is the world’s largest online retailer by a long shot. In 2021, Amazon’s net sales were a staggering $469.8 billion.

Pro tip: If you’re a regular Amazon customer, you should check out the best hacks for shopping the online megastore.

If you’re like most Americans, you probably log into Netflix every day. Netflix’s streaming services are such an integral part of our entertainment routines that it’s hard to believe that it started out in 1997 as a mail-order DVD rental service.

Ten years later, in 2007, Netflix introduced its online streaming platform that allowed viewers to watch an unlimited number of movies for just over $7 a month. Today, Netflix offers a tiered pricing plan that goes as high as $19.99 monthly.

However, its movie and TV offerings are much wider than they were more than a decade ago. No wonder there are more than 200 million subscribers worldwide.

In the early days of the internet, eBay was all the rage. At a time when the idea of “stranger danger” was at the forefront of every internet browser’s mind, we trusted eBay’s platform enough that we opened up our wallets and indulged in online shopping for the first time.

eBay was also one of the first platforms where everyone could make extra money by selling their own stuff to others.

Although it’s been almost 30 years since eBay debuted in 1995, it’s still going strong. There are more than 1.5 billion active listings on the site with 159 million active users.

Walmart has existed since the 1960s, but it was only in the 1990s that it became one of the country’s most popular retail stores. 

Since then, the retailer has only gained more momentum. They now count more than 11,000 stores across 28 countries and 260 million weekly shoppers. Are you one of them?

Is there anything more fun than spending a day at IKEA? And we’re not exaggerating when we say “day.” From exploring furniture displays to feasting on meatballs, there's so much to love about IKEA.

Famously Swedish, IKEA opened its first American store in 1985. Now there are 54 IKEA stores across the U.S. from coast to coast, and 19% of these stores are in California.

Apple is often listed as the world’s most profitable company, with regular revenue in the billions. Although many Apple products were game-changers, it was the iPhone that revolutionized the cell phone and the way people live. 

It’s hard to believe that the iPhone has only been with us since 2007. Today iPhone users make up around 57% of smartphone users.

Epic Games is less of a household name than the other companies on this list. But if you’re a gamer, you know a thing or two about Epic Games. 

Some of the most popular games that this software developer and publisher offers include “Fortnite,” “Grand Theft Auto,” and “Red Dead Redemption.” Today, Epic Games counts around 58 million active users.

Speaking of games, it would be hard to talk about video gaming of any kind without bringing up Nintendo. Although Nintendo technically started as a card game producer in the 1880s, it’s most well known today for its “Mario” line of games (and so much more). 

Nintendo’s most recent success was its Switch gaming console. There have been around 110 million units sold.

KFC is well known for “finger-lickin' good” fried chicken that’s coated in a proprietary spice blend. 

Although it doesn’t even rank in the top 10 of the biggest fast food chains in the U.S., don’t underestimate KFC’s global presence. It’s also the second biggest fast food chain in the Asia-Pacific region.

Few brands are as recognizable as the Golden Arches. It feels like whatever you go, there is a McDonald’s nearby that you can count on for consistent fries and burgers. Maybe this consistency is one of the things that makes this brand so beloved. 

McDonald’s reportedly serves around 69 million people per day. And like the better fast food chains that sell meals for under $6, McDonald’s has many menu options.

While some companies have been around for ages, other companies seem to have gotten popular overnight. 

Only time will tell if these companies will continue to have staying power throughout the years.