There’s been a battle brewing for some time and it’s likely to intensify in coming years. That battle is between the most dominant brick-and-mortar retail chain in American history (Walmart) and the most dominant ecommerce site in American history (Amazon).
While Walmart has built its empire over five decades, Amazon has become a juggernaut over the past two decades. There are plenty of similarities between the two, but there is one significant difference. Walmart can expand its online shopping platforms, while maintaining its massive footprint of physical stores. Amazon, on the other hand, pretty much exclusively relies on ecommerce.
Given Amazon’s digital focus, one would think that it would be a better online shopping option than Walmart.com, but that is not always the case.
We’ve rated each site based on a variety of different shopping categories. Check out our findings below.
In terms of pure selection, it’s tough to beat Amazon. It has a huge inventory and a wide array of brands and styles available. Whether you are seeking high-end luxury fashion, low-end cheap apparel or just about anything in between, you’ll likely be able to find something that fits your needs on Amazon.
By lumping in clothing in its “fashion” category, however, Amazon doesn’t have the smoothest navigation. It takes a couple clicks to get to clothing and initially it’s mixed in with shoes, watches and other accessories. The outstanding search functionality makes up for the category clumsiness, however.
When it comes to clothing choices, Walmart.com just can’t compete with Amazon. It doesn’t sell the luxury brands you can find on Amazon and doesn’t offer the same level of quality. On the low-cost side, however, Walmart.com more than holds its own and in some cases edges out Amazon both in terms of price and selection.
The navigation on Walmart’s site is slightly easier than Amazon because there isn’t the extra layer of “fashion” items to go through before you get to clothing. The search bar performs admirably and stacks up well against Amazon’s.
Advantage: Amazon. Though Walmart is strong in affordable clothing, even offering better prices according to a study cited in the USA Today, and has simpler navigation, Amazon’s sheer volume of clothing items give it the slight edge.
Not surprisingly, Amazon is a force when it comes to electronics. Not only has it created its own successful electronics products like the Kindle, it has also focused heavily on increasing its inventory by opening up to third-party marketplace sellers. That has led to competition and some excellent pricing on many items.
While some of Amazon’s other proprietary electronics products like the Fire TV and Fire phone have yet to take off, Amazon refuses to back down and is soon mass-releasing a voice-recognition product called Echo that has garnered some decent reviews.
Don’t sleep on Walmart’s electronics section, either. It might not have quite the breadth of choices that Amazon possesses, but it has just about any kind of electronics item that the average customer could want. One area where Walmart falls short, however, is in electronics parts.
During discount events like Black Friday, Walmart provides excellent value on electronics as well, although its prices are always generally among the best available, regardless of season.
Advantage: Amazon. By one measure late last year, Walmart.com did beat Amazon in the battle for lower prices overall within the electronics category. That data is skewed, however, because of Amazon’s larger selection of items, specifically higher quality items. Despite its best efforts, Walmart.com can’t compete with Amazon in this category due to Amazon’s massive inventory.
Once again, Amazon’s edge comes in its plethora of options. Most of the major brands are available and when on sale, often at a good price. Though it’s almost always better to have more choices, it can become a bit overwhelming in the home improvement category. If a customer doesn’t already have a good sense of what he/she wants, then shopping on Amazon can turn into an hours-long endeavor that isn’t always efficient.
One of Walmart.com’s secret weapons finally starts to really show up in this category: The ability to return a product bought online to a physical store.
It’s very common to purchase a fixture, tool or part that ends up not quite being what you expected or needed and it can be a real pain to repackage those items, especially when they are awkwardly shaped or large, and mail them back. If you buy such an item from Walmart.com, you can just take it to the nearest store with the receipt and either exchange or return it.
Advantage: Walmart.com. The ability to return or exchange items in store without having to ship them back is something Amazon can’t match.
For the most part, Amazon’s inventory edge is not as pronounced in the toy category. Unlike clothing or even electronics, toys are not quite as specialized and there isn’t as great a desire to find something really unique.
Where Amazon really makes its case among toy buyers is in price. Discounts are frequent and significant. A report last fall showed Amazon led all stores with the lowest price on 93 percent of the most popular toys based on web searches.
That same report showed that Walmart came in second among all stores with the lowest price on 87 percent of the most popular toys, so it’s very competitive with Amazon in toy pricing. That’s important, because Walmart.com blows away Amazon in one crucial area of toy buying: The ability to pick up items in store.
Our research showed that most toys were eligible for in-store pick-up and this provides consumers two significant positives:
Unlike Amazon, which requires you to be a Prime member (membership costs $99.99 a year) in order to get free shipping on most items, Walmart.com offers free shipping if you pick up the item in store. Considering toys tend to be cheaper, free shipping is pivotal … Who wants to pay $5 shipping on a $10 purchase?
Being able to pick up the item in store is a major benefit to many parents hoping to keep the toy a secret for gift-giving purposes or otherwise. There is little chance of hiding a gift from a kid who hears the doorbell and runs to see what is in the box that just arrived.
Advantage: Walmart.com. Being able to pick up in store, while avoiding shipping costs, is huge when it comes to toys.
Having started as an online book store, Amazon.com has built much of its business around the entertainment category. It remains the dominant leader among book stores and has expanded heavily into the music, film and gaming categories over the years. The inclusion of third-party marketplace sellers enabled Amazon to sell more obscure and historic entertainment items than just about anyone else.
The burgeoning market of mobile entertainment is another area where Amazon has really separated itself from the competition. It has its own app store for Android devices with tons of books, music and games available. It also has worked an “Instant Video” product into its Prime membership program.
Amazon Instant Video offers Prime members the ability to watch tons of movies and TV shows across most devices for free. Amazon has even launched its own original entertainment division which spawned the creation of the Golden Globe award-winning series “Transparent”.
Walmart stands very tall in the entertainment category against most of its traditional rivals and has a vast selection of books, music, movies and games at decent prices. For those looking to grab a quick CD or DVD, Walmart.com might be a good place to shop and could very well have the best price on a case-by-case basis.
Despite all of that, Walmart.com doesn’t hold a candle to Amazon when it comes to entertainment. That doesn’t mean Walmart.com isn’t trying, however. The company has launched a product called “VUDU” that permits customers to buy TV shows and movies on Walmart.com and set them up for streaming on most HDTVs and computers. It’s a good effort, but comes nowhere near the sophistication of Amazon’s offerings.
Advantage: Amazon. This appears unlikely to change any time soon.
Walmart.com has been playing catch up with Amazon on the ecommerce side for years and it has made some significant strides. It recently launched its own free shipping alternative to Prime (it will cost $50 vs. Prime’s $99, but offer fewer perks) and even provides a better overall shopping experience for certain items. Walmart.com has made up enough ground that it makes sense to compare both sites when shopping online, but Amazon retains the overall edge and makes more sense in most cases.
