Walmart will soon pass on its crown of being the largest retailer in the United States to Amazon.
A new report, Amazon Strategies and the Amazon Shopper, 2nd Edition, found that Amazon will surpass Walmart by 2022, growing at a much faster rate.
“Amazon’s already has an enormous impact on e-commerce sales, benefitting from its creation of an endless online aisle with products at competitive prices. Packaged Facts estimates that Amazon’s U.S. gross merchandise sales will comprise 43% of U.S. e-commerce sales in 2019, up from 28% in 2015. By 2022, we forecast that Amazon will contribute almost half of U.S. e-commerce sales,” says David Sprinkle, research director for Packaged Facts.
Still, Walmart physical presence has advantages that Amazon cannot currently match despite its partnership with Kohl's and acquisition of Whole Foods.
Walmart's in-store services strongly differentiate from its online competitors since many of which do not offer the same breadth of offerings or cannot match the store's pricing. These services not only produce revenue, but significantly drive traffic, which is even more vital at a time when at a time when traditional brick-and-mortar retailers look to revitalize in-store traffic.
The survey also reveals that more than 20% of Walmart purchasers use in-store services, such as financial services, pharmacy, and optical/photo processing. Meanwhile, the store boasts its click-and-collect services, with at least 43% of respondents saying that they have used the service for their last order, nearly three times the percentage of those who cited runner-up Target.
The report provides insight on Amazon's business model in four parts:
- The Amazon Landscape – Focuses on Amazon consumer usage and engagement trends and related consumer usage and engagement strategies, as well as Amazon’s competitive positioning. The section also focuses on Amazon products and services engagement over time, analysis includes portraits of the Amazon shopper, the Amazon media user, and the Amazon Prime member; as well as Amazon’s strategies to broaden its reach into U.S. homes and wallets.
- Amazon Category Analysis: Grocery - Focuses on online grocery purchasing trends over time to assess purchase channel (online and in-store) shifts and preferences according to major retailer and retailer channel, and it considers Amazon’s foray into the online grocery market. Analysis is devoted to the role Amazon plays in shaping grocery trends, with attention to Amazon cross-usage among major food retailers over time; consumer usage of Amazon services such as Amazon Fresh, Subscribe & Save, Prime Pantry, and Prime Now; and trends and strategies related to Whole Foods and physical store expansion.
- Amazon Category Analysis: Pet Products and Supplies - Focuses on consumer pet products purchasing trends over time to assess purchase channel (online, in-store, and multi-channel) shifts and preferences according to major retailer and retailer channel. Analysis is devoted to the role Amazon plays in shaping these trends, cross-usage of Amazon by customers of other major pet product retailers, and Amazon’s influence on online, in-store and multi-channel purchasing preferences.
- Amazon Category Analysis: Financial Services - Focuses on Amazon financial services and payments consumer usage and engagement trends and related consumer usage and engagement strategies, as well as Amazon’s competitive positioning over time. It also assesses future opportunities and ramifications related to its current financial services and payments products as well as those in development.
