RetailDetail EU
Europe - EN
  • België - NL
  • Belgique - FR
  • Nederland - NL
  • Europe - EN
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Subscribe
  • Sign in user
  • News
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Home
    • Electronics
    • Beauty/Care
    • DIY/Garden
    • Leisure
    • General
  • RetailDetail Plus
  • Events
  • Hunts
  • RetailHub
  • Advertising & Partnerships
    • EVENT PARTNERSHIPS
    • PRINT ADVERTISING
    • ONLINE ADVERTISING
RetailDetail EU
Europe - EN
  • België - NL
  • Belgique - FR
  • Nederland - NL
  • Europe - EN
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Sign in user
  • News
    • Food
    • Fashion
    • Home
    • Electronics
    • Beauty/Care
    • DIY/Garden
    • Leisure
    • General
  • RetailDetail Plus
  • Events
  • Hunts
  • RetailHub
  • Advertising & Partnerships
    • EVENT PARTNERSHIPS
    • PRINT ADVERTISING
    • ONLINE ADVERTISING
thumb
Written by Stefan Van Rompaey
In this article
Share article
  • facebook
  • instagram
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • email

Milestone: Amazon beats rival Walmart… for second place

icon
General19 August, 2021

For the first ever, Amazon has sold more than its eternal rival Walmart over the course of a year. In doing so, it has beaten its eternal rival in the race… for second place, as one other retailer dwarfs both of them.

 

Milestone

In the twelve months ending in June 2021, consumers have spent more than 610 billion dollars (520 billion euros) on Amazon, according to Factset financial research about which the New York Times reports. On the other side, Walmart, published a turnover of 566 billion dollars (480 billion euros) for the twelve months to the end of July earlier this week.

 

It is a milestone that illustrates how radically shopping behaviour has changed in recent decades: for the first time, Amazon now dethrones the most successful retailer of the past fifty years. However, that is not enough to become the largest retailer in the world: neither Amazon nor Walmart have gained a firm foothold in the gigantic Chinese market, and local behemoth Alibaba is now bigger than the two American giants combined.

 

New rules

Is this a historic moment, a tipping point? The model which allowed Walmart to achieve global dominance is well known: huge stores selling an enormous product range at ultra-low prices – thanks to very strict cost control and efficient logistics operations – made sure the retail giant crushed the competition and reached an unprecedented scale.

 

But e-commerce has rewritten the rules of the game in retail. Major Walmart stores sell up to 100,000 different items. That seems huge, but if you include the marketplace sellers, Amazon offers more than 350 million different items. In addition, the pandemic favoured online players: Walmart’s revenue grew by 24 billion dollars (20 billion euros) last year, Amazon’s by nearly 200 billion dollars (170 billion euros). That lead is only likely to grow: Amazon is currently taking off with 41 cents of every dollar spent online in the US. Walmart has to make do with 7 cents: the company expects to realise online sales of “only” 75 billion dollars (64 billion euros) this year…

 

Hide and seek

An important side-note is that the revenue that Factset attributes to Amazon is higher than what the retailer itself reports. Amazon is playing hide and seek, observers say, by only stating the amount of the fees it charges its two million partner sellers, and not the actual turnover through its marketplace. A conscious strategy: Amazon wants to appear smaller than it actually is, to avoid annoying questions about market dominance. The company prefers the role of underdog, but that seems really untenable now.

 

That is why analysts estimate the so-called “gross merchandise value”, or the amount customers spend on Amazon, be it from Amazon’s own inventory or from third-party sellers. As the latter account for 56 % of sales, Amazon’s GMV is almost 60 % higher than what Amazon itself indicates. Counting the domestic market only, Walmart still sells more than Amazon for the time being, and it also employs more people. But it may even lose that leading position next year. Incidentally, Amazon has been (much) larger than Walmart in market value since 2015.

 

Stay up-to-date

Receive our free newsletters and do not miss out on the latest retail news.

Subscribe
logo

For the first ever, Amazon has sold more than its eternal rival Walmart over the course of a year. In doing so, it has beaten its eternal rival in the race… for second place, as one other retailer dwarfs both of them.   Milestone In the twelve months ending in June 2021, consumers have spent more than 610 billion dollars (520 billion euros) on Amazon, according to Factset financial research about which the New York Times reports. On the other side, Walmart, published a turnover of 566 billion dollars (480 billion euros) for the twelve months to the end of July earlier this week.  ...

More on General
See more
  • icon
    General6 February, 2023
    Is the Amazon bubble about to burst?

    Although sales at Amazon continue to grow, alarms are going off behind the scenes. There were barely any profits in the fourth quarter, key cloud revenues are slowing and Amazon admits it is not yet successful in food.

  • icon
    General3 February, 2023
    Galeria plans to sell Inno

    German parent company Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof wants to sell its Belgian subsidiary Inno. The ailing group is said to be hoping for proceeds of tens of millions of euros.

  • icon
    General3 February, 2023
    Bijenkorf scales back international e-commerce

    Due to rising costs, Bijenkorf is discontinuing online activities in German- and French-speaking countries. From now on, the luxury department store will focus entirely on the Dutch and Flemish markets.

Events
  • 16
    Feb
    Captains of Retail 2023
  • 23
    Mar
    Omnichannel & E-Commerce Congress
  • 20
    Apr
    RetailDetail Congress
  • 11
    May
    Fashion & Beauty Congress
  • 15
    Jun
    Human Resources & People Congress
  • 29
    Jun
    Food Congress
Most read
  • icon
    Food24 January, 2023
    Europeans now also allowed to eat cricket powder and small mealworms
  • icon
    Food10 January, 2023
    Makro Belgium now officially bankrupt
  • icon
    Food13 January, 2023
    Carrefour Belgium tests autonomous delivery robot
  • icon
    Fashion16 January, 2023
    False discounts earn Yoox millions in fines
Follow RetailDetail
  • socialFacebook
  • socialTwitter
  • socialInstagram
  • sociallinkedIn
footer-logo
RetailDetail, the leading b2b-retailcommunity in the Benelux, keeps retail professionals up-to-date by means of online & offline publications, retail events, inspiring retail hunts and the unique co-creation platform retailhub, where retailers and their suppliers can experience the future of shopping.
RetailDetail Mailing Address:
Kolveniersstraat 7, bus 26 
2000 Antwerp
Visiting address:
Stadsfeestzaal – Meir 78 
2000 Antwerp
How to reach us:
Directions
© 2023 RetailDetail
general conditions | privacy policy
+32 3 500 89 59 info@retaildetail.be
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept All”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Accept All
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT