Two giants fighting against each other for world domination. Head to head in battle, not one of them showing any signs of surrender. That is one way of putting the rivalry of Amazon and Walmart into words. The only difference is that both of them are fighting for retail domination rather than world. However no battle ever ends without any casualties, backstabbing and joining of forces.
The Retail industry-
The retail industry worldwide is worth around 24 trillion dollars. That confirms that the reward is huge for whichever "giant" is able to crack it. The act of buying commodities has always seemed like a "chore" for many. Buying things that you HAVE TO like milk was never (and will never will be) fun. So that part of retail is becoming streamlined. Thanks to online shopping, and modern technology, we are able to buy those things with just a simple click and get them delivered right at our doorstep within 24 hours. However, many people still prefer to go to physical stores to have an experience that you do not get in other places. Things like discovering new products (like clothes and jewellery) and socializing still fall into this section.
Amazon-
Controlling a sizeable 4 percent of US retail market and nearly 44 percent of the e-commerce market, our first contender is Amazon. The company is a familiar name to many but just in case you missed it- Amazon is an electronic commerce company founded by Jeff Bezos. It has been dominating the e-commerce market for quite some time now. It has ventured into streaming with Amazon Prime and has been investing in startups around the world. Amazon is how you can shop in your pajamas from the comfort of your bed. Not only does Amazon offer convenience, Jeff Bezos has also provided you with lower prices and frequent discounts.
Walmart-
Walmart, the world's largest retailer is one contender that even the convenience of Amazon cannot easily brush aside. "Save money. Live better" is Walmart's motto and it seems like that never fails to get customers rushing through the bright blue doors. Walmart has always ruled over physical stores and has 11,695 stores world wide. Walmart employs 1 percent of the US workforce and 2.2 million people worldwide. If its sheer size isn't enough, it is the only major (physical) retailer that is celebrating in a (as some people might put it) dying industry.
Diversifying-
Both the "big bulls" might have mastered their own tricks. But, in order for them to triumph over the other they need to be more than just a "one trick pony". So each of them have been trying to get the upper hand by diversifying into both the types of retail industry. Walmart's venture into online retailing has been fairly successful. Consumers can already shop all of its products on its own website "www.walmart.com". That said, Walmart has also been making a series of acquisitions to help with its expansion into e-commerce. One of it's most recent is it's $16 billion deal to purchase India's Flipkart (more on this later).
Amazon is not far behind in the physical retail industry either. Like Walmart, Amazon has also taken its strength (the part with technology) and brought it to the real world (the internet in walmart's case) with it's famous name plastered all over it. In came "Amazon Go"! No lines! No checkout! it promises all the conveniences of online shopping in a store. Amazon also made some acquisitions of (normal) retail chains one of them being it's acquisition of "Whole Foods"
Eating up Flipkart-
Walmarts ginormous acquisition has been having a tough crowd. Walmart's shares fell 3 percent on May 9, when it announced that it would be taking 77% stake in Indian e-commerce company Flipkart. Shareholders are unhappy for many reasons. One of them is that many people believe that Walmart overpaid for flipkart. Walmart's 16 billion dollar valued the unprofitable company at seven times last year's sales. Walmart also inherited Flipkart's longstanding war with Amazon. This could increase losses for Flipkart and be very hard on Walmart to justify such a high price. But, purchasing Flipkart has given Walmart a huge entry into an even bigger market. This could really play to Walmart's advantage in getting a leg up in the e-commerce business.
So who will win?
The competition is tough and each side has quite a lot of tricks up their sleeves. Amazon has the advantage of "leading the future" and it has also found innovative ways of making it in the physical retail stores. The change in Whole foods was quite noticeable just one day after Amazon purchased it. Whole foods had sudden price cuts attracting more people to come to the grocery store. Amazon also started advertising it's Amazon echo in Whole Foods opening a new range of market for it. However, some say that it may be the "Walmart of the internet". That brings into perspective the fact that Walmart is much bigger and still has a much larger share of retail than Amazon. The question is whether "Internet Giant Amazon" would be able to win from the "King of Discount Stores".