Amazon is the undisputed champion of e-commerce but the king of brick-and-mortar sales is taking huge steps to challenge that dominance. We have the ways Walmart is competing to replace Amazon in this week’s Five for Friday.
#5: Exclusive memberships
Nothing sets the e-commerce giant apart from the competition more than Amazon Prime. Walmart is no stranger to the subscription game, having owned Sam’s Club since 1983, but it made a broader leap with the launch of Walmart+ back in 2020. Similar to Prime, Plus members get free next-day or two-day shipping. Walmart’s offering also gives discounts on gas, which is a pretty big selling point right now. Walmart also has the edge on pricing: It’s just $98 for a year of Plus, while Prime will set you back $139 per year.
#4: Streaming services
Another benefit of Amazon’s member service is Prime Video. This month, Walmart also launched its foray into streaming by entering a deal with Paramount+ to offer free streaming for its members. Walmart reportedly courted a number of streaming services to bundle with Plus but landed with the home of the Halo TV series and a number of Star Trek shows. It has a long way to go to catch up with the massive Prime Video library, which now includes exclusive rights to the NFL’s Thursday Night Football for the next 11 seasons, featuring play-by-play from the legendary Al Michaels.
#3: Grocery wars
Over the last decade, the world of e-groceries has become incredibly competitive. Two major players are Amazon and Walmart. Walmart’s delivery is free for Plus members, and while Amazon stopped offering free delivery for Whole Foods orders last year, Amazon Fresh orders are still on the house for Prime customers. Volume is the name of the game for Walmart, having moved 7.8 billion units to Amazon’s 4 billion since 2020. But Amazon is still the leader in the clubhouse when it comes to revenue with $40.6 billion to Walmart’s $22.5 billion.
#2: Robot race
Both companies are on the cutting edge of retail technology. Walmart’s Alphabot can pack and deliver groceries quicker than humans. Amazon, for its part, has a major head start on warehouse robots, but Walmart hopes to close that gap with its growing stake in Symbotic. Don’t forget Amazon’s fleet of drones it’s been working on to have items delivered to your backyard without fighting grueling traffic.
#1: Ecommerce domination
All of these strides come to a head with Walmart’s pandemic-induced shift into ecommerce. Right now, Amazon accounts for 40% of all U.S. ecommerce sales, but Walmart’s share is growing, with sales surging 12% on the year. Over the same period, Amazon sales fell 4%. Both have their own way of handling the volume, Amazon with its massive fulfillment centers and Walmart with thousands of stores at its disposal. Walmart+ members can get same-day delivery from their local store, which turns the stores into distribution centers of their own.
