Walmart Passes Apple as Amazon’s Lead in U.S. Online Store Ranking Diminishes

The United States is home to some of the world’s leading eCommerce companies. First and foremost is Amazon, the company that has shaped consumer expectations and online business aspirations to become a multi-billion dollar conglomerate. No other retailer in the country can hope to match what Amazon generates – at least, not until now.

Walmart’s and Apple’s online stores walmart.com and apple.com have been locked in a years-long battle for second place in U.S. eCommerce. The race was a close head-to-head in 2019, but has shifted in walmart.com’s favor for the time being. The position of walmart.com and apple.com has changed frequently over the years, with one surpassing the other at one point or another to take the second spot.

Apple.com Suffered a Downturn in 2023

The run for second place in the U.S. online store business has been close each year. Only a few billion dollars in net sales separated walmart.com and apple.com throughout time. It was not until 2023 that walmart.com began to gain a more significant edge over apple.com.

2023 was a difficult year for Apple, due to a tough economic climate in the U.S. market: Consumer demand for computers and smartphones was low that year, which was particularly exacerbated by high interest rates and inflation.

But 2023 was also the year that Apple did not launch a new iPad model, reducing the incentive for consumers to buy a new product or a discounted older model. On top of that, new Apple watch models were removed from shelves in the U.S. just days before Christmas, due to intellectual property disputes.

Ebbs and flows in a company’s performance are usually nothing to worry about. But when the online store race is as tight as it is for second place in U.S. eCommerce, even a small slip can hand the rival an edge that sticks.

Amazon.com’s Lead Shrinks as Walmart.com Grows

Throughout the years of competition between walmart.com and apple.com to be the second largest online store in the U.S., amazon.com has maintained its dominant position. But in recent years, its lead to the second position has narrowed, which is walmart.com since 2023.

Despite the steady growth of Amazon’s first-party net sales, the gap between the first-place online store and second place has shrunk. It seems counterintuitive to call Walmart, the largest retail chain in the U.S., an underdog, but in the U.S. online store business, amazon.com is the household name. Despite this, the eCommerce giant has shifted its focus towards the growth of its marketplace business in the last decade.

Consumers see Walmart as an alternative to Amazon: Both are generalist retailers with a customer base that looks for one-stop shopping at competitive prices. While this has put Apple at a disadvantage lately, online shoppers turn to Walmart for everyday essential items, groceries, and also higher-ticket items where they can get a bargain.

Walmart has been following in Amazon’s footsteps over the years. What Prime is to Amazon, Walmart+ is to Walmart. Like Amazon, Walmart has its own retail media advertising business, data and analytics capabilities and fulfillment service. Walmart.com also revamped its website in 2023 to make it more user-friendly, which has been well received. In the game shaped by Amazon, walmart.com has benefited greatly from becoming more like the market leader.