Walmart launches a new round of competition with Amazon! Walmart uses its key advantages to play a "three-pronged approach"

In the United States, Amazon dominates with nearly 40% of the market share, and Walmart is a rival coveted by many e-commerce peers. In addition to competing with Amazon in India through Flipkart, Walmart is also competing with Amazon in the United States.

Amazon has 39.5% of the online market share in the U.S., compared with Walmart’s 7%, according to estimates by research firm eMarketer. Last year, consumers spent more on Amazon than the offline retail giant for the first time in the 12-month period from June 2020 to June 2021, according to company filings and estimates by financial research firm FactSet.

This has forced Walmart to speed up its pace to catch up with Amazon. Thanks to its long-standing physical store business, the huge number of offline stores has become Walmart's key advantage in conducting online business. Walmart has about 4,700 stores in the United States, and 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a Walmart store.

Now Walmart is developing these stores into small distribution centers to provide strong support for its three important businesses.

Third-party sales market

Walmart has been trying to bring its "everyday low prices" model to its e-commerce business as it tries to catch up with Amazon.com Inc. Chief Executive Doug McMillon said he wants to make it easier for customers to choose how they shop while increasing online sales.

Walmart's vast store footprint will allow it to outpace its competitors, he said. For example, a seller could identify the nearest store for a customer searching online for a printer, and a store worker could pack it up and deliver it within a few hours.

McMillon said it was a transformative experience in terms of speed that no other competitor could replicate.

In addition, Walmart is trying to attract more third-party sellers to join through its logistics advantages, and its WFS service will also rely on the advantages of its store network to provide faster and more cost-effective delivery services.

Although Walmart did not specify a timeline for the service, it said it would appear in the "near future." In addition, sellers with a certain scale on Walmart's website will also have the opportunity to list in its physical stores.

Drone delivery service

Another important part of Walmart's business is its drone delivery service, which Walmart will expand to 37 stores in six states by the end of the year, a development that will allow it to reach 4 million households.

Walmart also launched the GoLocal delivery service last year, combining air and land transportation. The service allows maternity and baby stores and listed companies including Home Depot to use Walmart's independent drivers to deliver online shopping goods, achieving cost-effectiveness.

Walmart is stronger than Amazon in drone delivery. Although it entered the market relatively late, Walmart, which has a professional drone background, obtained business licenses faster than Amazon and has an advantage in the drone delivery market.

InHome Delivery Service

A key part of Walmart's e-commerce strategy is to gain a high level of trust among customers, and to that end it has launched its InHome delivery service, which relies on a fleet of electric delivery vehicles to deliver food, groceries and more directly to customers' refrigerators or kitchen counters.

In addition to groceries, customers can order clothes, toys and other items to be delivered to their homes. They can also request returns for Walmart employees to take back to the store.

Walmart said it plans to hire more than 3,000 delivery drivers this year and expand its InHome delivery service in the United States from 6 million households to 30 million households by the end of the year.

The service is expanding to major cities, including Los Angeles and Chicago, and Walmart says it will be available to 30 million households by the end of the year. The delivery workers have an average of 6.5 years of experience at Walmart and have a body camera to record the delivery.

For Walmart, this will greatly enhance customer trust and loyalty and turn online shopping into a regular part of customers' lives.

The pandemic has driven a surge in Walmart's e-commerce sales, thanks in large part to its curbside pickup service. The e-commerce environment has become tougher in recent months as Walmart's fuel and freight costs rise, inflation hovers at a nearly four-decade high and customer spending on discretionary items declines.

Even against this backdrop, McMillon said Walmart will continue to maintain its low-price advantage and provide customers with the lowest prices. After all, it has 60 years of management experience in this regard.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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