Amazon is leading Walmart in both overall consumer and retail spend, a lead Amazon first captured in Q3 2020 earlier in the pandemic, according to PAYMNTS, which provides data, news and insights on innovation in payments and platforms.
- As consumers moved their shopping online, Amazon worked on its eCommerce advantage, as Walmart’s share declined in nearly all retail categories.
- This includes discretionary spend and grocery, where Walmart’s share is slipping slightly quarter over quarter as Amazon intensifies its bid to capture more of consumers’ dollars.
- The numbers come from the report The Battle for Consumer Retail Spend: Amazon Versus Walmart Q2 2022.
Evenly Poised: Both retail giants have already moved aggressively into the other’s turf: Amazon into grocery with Whole Foods, Amazon Fresh and Amazon Subscribe & Save, and Walmart into eCommerce with the acquisition of Jet.com.
- Both have also expanded into retail-adjacent areas, health and wellness in particular.
- While Amazon and Walmart continue to establish themselves as leaders in providing easy access to daily essentials, they also compete for consumers’ discretionary income, even as inflation shrinks spending power.
Other Key Findings:
- Amazon accounted for 6.5% of consumer retail spending and 3.1% of total consumer spending at the end of Q2 2022. With 7.1% of consumer retail spending, Walmart slightly outperformed Amazon again this quarter, but has fallen slightly behind in total consumer spending, at 3.0%.
- Amazon holds 14% of the discretionary spending market versus only 4.9% for Walmart. Amazon continues to take the lead in all discretionary spending on sporting goods, music, hobbies, clothing and apparel, furniture and home furnishings, and electronics and appliances.
- Walmart’s market share in grocery is slowly eroding, while Amazon still holds only a 2% share in Q2 2022, including its sales via Whole Foods Market. Competing for grocery market share is not as easy as it used to be, with other leaders such as Kroger, Target and Costco taking a bigger slice of sales.
The Clothing Segment:
- In Q1 2019, Amazon held 5.5% and Walmart held 5.9% of the clothing market. By Q4 2019, Amazon had increased its share to 8%, while Walmart’s share stayed the same.
- The most significant change happened in Q4 2020, when Amazon nearly doubled Walmart’s clothing and apparel market share, at 11.8% compared to 6.2%.
- Amazon’s surge can be attributed to consumers taking their shopping online during the first holiday season of the pandemic.
- In Q2 2022, Amazon maintained its lead in the market, holding 9.2%, while Walmart faced a slight decrease to 5.3%.
- With more than 50 in-house fashion brands, Amazon appeals to a broad demographic, many of whom still enjoy the convenience of shopping online.
- Walmart targets millennials and Generation Z with fashion-forward and influencer-tied collections.
- Despite Walmart’s efforts, Amazon remains the clothing market leader, even taking market share from other leaders.
