Methodology

1. Scope & Definitions

Coverage. Ibuerte currently covers 5 UK cities (Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Leicester, Sheffield), 5 anchor retail chains (Tesco, Asda, B&M, Home Bargains, IKEA) and 147 store locations.

"Big-box" store. A large-format, standalone or retail-park retail unit operated under one of the tracked chains. Format tiers are applied per brand from the store name:

• Tesco: Extra (hypermarket) ranked above Superstore. Tesco Express is excluded.
• Asda: Supercentre ranked above Superstore, then Supermarket. Petrol stations, George clothing and Asda Express are excluded.
• Home Bargains: standard Home Bargains; Super Bargains compact format is excluded.
• B&M: Home Store; stores with a Garden Centre are labelled as such.
• IKEA: full-format stores only; IKEA collection points are excluded.

"Biggest". Ranking is based first on store format tier, then on documented retail floor area in square metres (m²), then on customer rating and review volume — all as described in section 4.

2. Data Sources

Data is compiled from the following sources, named for transparency:

• Official brand store locators — Tesco, Asda, B&M, Home Bargains and IKEA store pages, for addresses, contact details and trading hours.
• Curated size & photography records — an internal dataset of verified store sizes (m² and sq ft) and store photographs, matched to each location by postcode.
• Google Maps / Places data — used to cross-check location, rating and review volume for each branch. Ratings shown on store pages originate from public Google reviews.
• OpenStreetMap — used for the interactive map embeds on city and pillar pages.

3. Verification & Provenance

Each store record carries a provenance label describing how its data was obtained. These labels are shown on the individual store pages and mean the following:

We do not claim that every store has been physically visited. Where a floor area is unavailable, the store is still listed and ranked but is marked "pending verification" at record level.

4. Ranking Rules

Stores of the same brand within a city are ordered by the following rules, applied in sequence:

1. Format tier — larger formats (e.g. Tesco Extra, Asda Supercentre) are ranked above standard formats.
2. Documented floor area — larger retail area (m²) ranks higher.
3. Customer rating — higher Google rating ranks higher.
4. Review volume — more reviews ranks higher as a final tie-breaker.

Pillar pages list the top 5 stores per brand and city (fewer where a city has fewer branches). Titles use the form "Top N Biggest [Brand] in [City]".

Data cut-off. The current published dataset is a snapshot dated September 2026. Rankings can change when a store opens, closes, is resized, or when its public rating changes.

5. Corrections & Changelog

Spotted something wrong? Email official@ibuerte.com with the store name and city. We aim to respond within 5 business days and will correct verified errors.