While Walmart has transformed its business strategy in recent years to include bold innovations — like the drone delivery that Amazon pioneered — Amazon continues to lead the 60-year-old retail mainstay, according to “Amazon Versus Walmart Q1 2022,” a PYMNTS report.
Get the report: Amazon Versus Walmart Q1 2022
In Q1 2022, 8.8% of consumer retail spending and 3.4% of total consumer spending went to Amazon.
In comparison, 8.2% and 2.8%, respectively, went to Walmart.
However, there are two types of retail products left that Walmart has the upper hand on.
Walmart’s dominance in the food and beverage category is substantial. It has a 17.7% segment share while Amazon holds a 1.9% share — and that includes Amazon’s sales via Whole Foods Market.
Walmart also has a slight lead over Amazon in health and personal care, holding a market share of 5.6% in comparison to Amazon’s 4.1%.
In the food and beverage segment, Walmart’s share is slipping steadily. Beyond Amazon, Walmart has other formidable challengers in the space like Target and Costco, offering low-cost general merchandise, rapid delivery and convenient local retail outlets.
Walmart’s shoppable fulfillment center concept may amplify its leadership in this segment if the big-box giant can manage to blend seamless online ordering with rapid delivery.
In the health and personal care segment, Amazon’s relatively new pharmacy service, launched in 2020, offers a range of over-the-counter personal care products in addition to general goods within this segment. However, it has yet to overtake Walmart. It has been stuck for nearly two years with its market share of about 4%.
Looking ahead, as Walmart adopts new consumer experience features designed to match and even exceed Amazon’s strengths, and Amazon maintains and even grows its market share in many categories through efficiency and product availability, competition will only become more intense.
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