The retail rivalry to beat them all is Amazon versus Walmart, and new research shows that the gap is widening between the two mammoth companies as eCommerce continues its ascent.
It could be said that timing plays a role in how the two competing retail visions emerged then began to clash. Established in 1962, Walmart has deep brick-and-mortar roots and a savings-centric brand mantra that continues to ground the company.
Founded more than 30 years later, Amazon was digital-first before the term existed, harnessing the selling potential of a nascent internet early in the game, introducing its marketplace concept in 2000 followed by the Prime service in 2005. The stage was set for a showdown.
By Q4 2021, the strength of the mobile internet combined with a pandemic shift to ecommerce found Amazon surpassing Walmart sales in all but one category — grocery — as the two battled over the $5.5 trillion spent on retail purchases last year.
The PYMNTS study Amazon Versus Walmart Q4 2021: The Ongoing Battle For Consumer Retail Spend, details how Amazon is beating the Bentonville behemoth, and how it is not.
Get the study: Amazon Versus Walmart Q4 2021: The Ongoing Battle For Consumer Retail Spend
2021 Crowned a New King
While finding that $472 billion consumer dollars spent in 2021 went to Walmart — 8.6% of total spending — at $510 billion, Amazon bested Walmart for the first time, taking an estimated 3.6% of total consumer spending, and 9.4% of total consumer retail spending.
As the study states, “This is more than Amazon or Walmart has ever won in any year since we began tracking their rivalry in 2014, adding that “together, this means that $18 out of every $100 consumers spent on retail purchases in 2021 went to Amazon and Walmart.”
Walmart Owns Grocery
Despite Amazon’s ceaseless efforts in grocery, namely it’s 2017 acquisition of struggling premium grocery chain Whole Foods, and 2007 launch of Amazon Fresh, Walmart remains the undisputed leader when it comes to grocery sales.
Per the study, the average U.S. household is spending roughly 10 times more on food and beverages at Walmart than at Amazon, with Walmart “capturing a total of $264 billion in sales in 2021. Amazon captured just $27 billion that year, by comparison.”
PYMNTS found that even after its Whole Foods buy “the share of food and beverage spend won by Amazon has oscillated between 1.7% and 2.1% — a leeway of just 0.4 percentage points.”
Contesting Healthcare
Splits between the two retailers are clearly defined except in one area, health and beauty. While Amazon is gaining fast, Walmart retained a slight lead in Q4 2021.
Our research found Walmart taking a thin 1.6 percentage point lead of the average U.S. household’s health and personal care spend, “measuring out to a difference of $13 billion.”
“This shrinking lead is chiefly due to the fact that Amazon keeps earning more of consumers’ health and personal care purchases with each passing year, while Walmart has captured roughly the same share of this spend since 2014,” the study states.
Apparel Goes Marketplace
Capturing more than twice the consumer spend on fashion than Walmart, Amazon garnered 15% — equating to $91 billion — of U.S. consumers dollars spent on apparel and accessories went to Amazon in 2021, compared to Walmart’s take of 6.5% or $41 billion.
That’s a segment in transition, however, as both Amazon and Walmart clothing sales were essentially flat, with the study noting that the “decrease notably coincides with rising inflation rates, a factor that is causing many consumers to tighten their belts.”
Auto Parts Race is Run
In hot pursuit since 2014, Amazon finally edged out Walmart’s longtime lead in the auto parts category in 2021, although it remains a very tight race.
“Amazon caught up to Walmart in Q4 2021, when both businesses captured roughly 17% of the average U.S. household’s auto parts and products spend. This works out to roughly $4 billion in total income for each,” PYMNTS found.
Get the study: Amazon Versus Walmart Q4 2021: The Ongoing Battle For Consumer Retail Spend
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