Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce business continued to outpace its traditional retail operations in the second quarter of fiscal 2027, with online sales increasing 24% year over year as the retailer leaned further into store-based fulfilment, marketplace expansion and faster delivery.

The performance reinforces Walmart’s transformation from a predominantly store-led retailer into a broader omnichannel commerce platform. While comparable U.S. sales increased at a much more modest pace during the quarter, digital channels remained one of the strongest areas of the business.

According to Walmart’s Q2 FY27 results, global e-commerce sales increased 23%, while Walmart U.S. e-commerce grew 24%. Online sales now account for approximately 23% of Walmart U.S. sales, illustrating how central digital commerce has become to the company’s overall retail model.

Fast delivery becomes central to Walmart’s e-commerce strategy

One of the key drivers of Walmart’s e-commerce growth is its growing use of physical stores as fulfillment hubs. Walmart said store-fulfilled delivery increased 40% during the quarter. Rather than depending exclusively on large regional fulfillment centers, the company is increasingly using inventory already located in its thousands of stores to fulfill online orders closer to the end customer.

The approach gives Walmart an important structural advantage in last-mile delivery. Stores historically designed primarily for in-person shopping can increasingly perform multiple roles simultaneously: retail location, pickup point, fulfillment node, and local delivery hub.

This distributed model can shorten the distance between inventory and consumers, allowing Walmart to expand same-day and rapid delivery services while making greater use of an existing physical network. Walmart described strong demand for convenient and fast delivery as one of the principal drivers of its global digital growth during the quarter.

Walmart's physical stores become e-commerce infrastructure

The growing importance of store fulfillment reflects a broader shift across retail logistics. Traditionally, large e-commerce operations concentrated inventory inside dedicated warehouses positioned strategically around a country or region. Walmart is increasingly combining this model with a vast network of stores already located close to population centers.

This creates a distributed fulfillment network. For customers, the visible result is faster delivery. Behind the scenes, however, the model requires much deeper integration between inventory management, order orchestration, store operations and last-mile logistics. Walmart needs to determine in real time whether an online order should be fulfilled from a store, distribution center or another part of its network while simultaneously preserving enough inventory for customers shopping physically.

Successfully coordinating these channels is becoming one of the defining logistical challenges of large-scale omnichannel retail.

Marketplace sales climb more than 50%

Walmart is also seeing strong momentum from its third-party marketplace. The company reported that Walmart U.S. marketplace net sales increased by more than 50% during Q2 FY27. Nearly half of Walmart's marketplace business globally now flows through the company's fulfillment services.

That combination is strategically important. A marketplace lets Walmart expand its product assortment without owning all the inventory being sold. Fulfillment services, meanwhile, enable the company to generate additional revenue by storing, processing and delivering products on behalf of third-party merchants.

The model increasingly resembles the ecosystem strategy that has helped Amazon expand beyond direct retail. Rather than generating revenue only from the final product sale, a marketplace operator can earn revenue across several layers of the transaction, including seller commissions, fulfillment, advertising and membership services.

E-commerce is becoming more important to Walmart's business model

Walmart's digital growth is increasingly connected to several of the company's other strategic priorities. Its Q2 results showed global advertising revenue increasing 38%, while Walmart Connect in the United States grew 43% excluding Vizio. The company has been expanding advertising alongside marketplace, membership and fulfillment services as it seeks to generate more revenue from each customer and merchant interaction.

These businesses are particularly important because many of them can carry higher margins than traditional retail. The result is a commerce ecosystem in which a marketplace transaction can potentially generate revenue from the seller, fulfillment, advertising, and the customer relationship, in addition to the underlying retail transaction.

Walmart highlighted marketplace, fulfillment services, membership, advertising, and other commerce solutions as businesses strengthening the company's economics.

Digital growth stands out amid slower comparable sales

The e-commerce performance was particularly notable because Walmart's broader U.S. retail growth was considerably slower. U.S. comparable sales excluding fuel increased 2.6% during the quarter. Reuters reported that this represented Walmart's slowest comparable-sales growth in approximately six years and fell below market expectations.

Walmart nevertheless raised its full-year sales and profit outlook. The contrasting results underline a key shift within the company: digital commerce is expanding much faster than the traditional store business.

Walmart U.S. e-commerce grew 24%, compared with 2.6% comparable sales growth, while Sam's Club U.S. e-commerce sales increased 26%. Walmart International e-commerce increased another 19%.

The divergence suggests that consumers are not necessarily abandoning Walmart's physical infrastructure. Instead, they are increasingly accessing the same inventory through digital channels.

Walmart continues closing the e-commerce gap with Amazon

Amazon remains the dominant e-commerce operator in the United States, but Walmart possesses an asset that is difficult for digital-native competitors to replicate: an enormous network of stores already positioned close to consumers. Walmart has increasingly treated those locations as logistics infrastructure.

That strategy changes the competitive equation around delivery. Instead of trying to reproduce Amazon's fulfillment network exactly, Walmart can combine dedicated e-commerce facilities with thousands of existing retail locations that can support pickup and local delivery.

The company is therefore competing not only through product pricing and assortment but increasingly through fulfillment speed and convenience. Its continued investment in automation, digital platforms and fulfillment technology is designed to make that network more productive while reducing the cost of serving increasingly demanding online customers.

The economics of rapid delivery remain the key challenge

Fast delivery can improve customer loyalty and conversion, but it also creates significant cost pressures. Picking individual orders from stores, coordinating delivery drivers, and transporting smaller baskets directly to homes can become expensive if order density is insufficient.

Scale is therefore crucial. The more orders Walmart can consolidate within the same geographic area, the easier it becomes to improve route density and spread delivery costs across more transactions. Marketplace growth can help by bringing more products and order volume into Walmart's logistics ecosystem.

Fulfillment services provide another layer of scale by encouraging marketplace sellers to place inventory within Walmart's distribution network. The objective is ultimately not simply to grow online sales, but to make those transactions increasingly profitable.

Walmart noted that its international operating-income growth benefited from improving e-commerce economics, particularly in China, India and Canada, suggesting that digital profitability remains a major focus across the group.

Omnichannel retail increasingly becomes a logistics competition

Walmart's results also illustrate a broader shift within global e-commerce. Competition between major retailers is increasingly determined by logistics capabilities rather than simply website traffic, product selection or pricing.

Consumers now expect accurate inventory visibility, multiple fulfillment options, convenient returns and increasingly rapid delivery. Meeting those expectations requires retailers to connect stores, warehouses, marketplaces and delivery networks into a single fulfillment system.

For retailers with large physical networks, this creates an opportunity. Stores can become strategic assets rather than liabilities in the age of e-commerce, provided their inventory and operations are integrated effectively with digital ordering systems. Walmart's 24% U.S. e-commerce growth suggests that this strategy is gaining momentum.

Walmart is building a broader commerce ecosystem

The longer-term significance of Walmart's digital growth extends beyond online retail sales. The company increasingly resembles a commerce infrastructure provider connecting consumers, merchants, advertisers and logistics services.

Its marketplace provides access to additional assortment. Walmart Fulfillment Services allows merchants to outsource logistics. Walmart Connect monetizes shopper traffic through advertising. Membership programs increase customer loyalty, while its store network provides local fulfillment capacity.

Together, these businesses create an increasingly interconnected commercial ecosystem. Amazon pioneered a similar model in which retail, marketplace services, fulfillment, advertising, and subscriptions reinforce each other. Walmart's advantage is that it can combine those digital capabilities with one of the world's largest physical retail networks.

What Walmart's 24% e-commerce growth means for retailers

Walmart's latest results reinforce one of the most important trends shaping modern retail: the distinction between physical commerce and e-commerce continues to disappear. The company's stores are increasingly becoming components of its digital fulfillment infrastructure, while its online marketplace feeds additional volume into logistics, advertising and fulfillment businesses.

For other retailers, the lesson may be less about matching Walmart's scale than about integrating channels more effectively. Inventory visibility, flexible fulfillment and delivery speed are becoming increasingly important competitive factors.

Walmart's Q2 FY27 results suggest that retailers that can turn physical locations into distributed e-commerce infrastructure may have a significant advantage as consumers increasingly prioritize convenience and faster delivery. For Walmart, the 24% increase in U.S. e-commerce sales is therefore more than another strong digital quarter.

It is further evidence that logistics and fulfillment are becoming central to the company's strategy for competing in the next phase of global e-commerce.

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Recent retail earnings reports in the United States confirm that digital commerce remains a central growth driver for major retailers, with Walmart emerging as one of the clearest examples. The company’s latest fiscal results show strong global e-commerce sales growth, helping lift overall revenue and outperform analyst expectations.

This momentum reflects a broader structural shift in retail, where online channels increasingly contribute not only to sales volume but also to profitability, advertising revenue, and marketplace expansion. Walmart’s digital strategy illustrates how large retailers are integrating commerce, logistics, and media capabilities into a unified ecosystem.

Walmart’s digital sales acceleration and profitability milestone

Walmart’s online business has reached a new scale milestone. E-commerce now accounts for a substantial share of total revenue, with digital sales surpassing $150 billion and continuing to grow as a share of overall transactions.

Importantly, the company’s U.S. e-commerce division has reached profitability, a turning point after years of heavy investment in logistics infrastructure, fulfillment technology, and marketplace development. Operational efficiencies, including automated fulfillment centers and store-based delivery models, have supported continued growth in domestic digital sales.

Advertising, marketplace, and fulfillment reshape retail economics

One of the most notable aspects of Walmart’s e-commerce expansion is how online sales increasingly connect with adjacent high-margin businesses. Advertising revenue has grown significantly, reflecting the rising importance of retail media networks within the broader digital commerce ecosystem.

These advertising platforms enable brands to promote products directly within retail marketplaces, combining shopper data with targeted advertising. As a result, retailers are evolving into media platforms and commerce operators.

Marketplace growth also contributes to this transformation. Third-party sellers benefit from Walmart’s fulfillment infrastructure, logistics capabilities, and customer reach, creating a flywheel effect where more sellers attract more consumers, strengthening advertising and logistics revenues in turn.

Omnichannel retail becomes the dominant model

Walmart’s results highlight how omnichannel retail has become the dominant operational model. Store-fulfilled pickup and delivery continue to drive digital growth, demonstrating how physical retail assets can strengthen e-commerce rather than compete with it.

Faster fulfillment and last-mile efficiency

Using physical stores as fulfillment hubs shortens delivery times and reduces shipping costs. This approach has helped Walmart compete more effectively with pure online players while maintaining nationwide coverage.

Improved customer experience

Consumers increasingly expect seamless integration between online browsing, mobile ordering, and in-store pickup. Retailers that combine these touchpoints effectively tend to achieve higher customer loyalty and repeat purchases.

Greater pricing flexibility

The integration of online and offline channels allows retailers to adapt pricing, promotions, and inventory management more dynamically, improving margins and inventory turnover.

Broader implications for U.S. retail and global e-commerce

The momentum seen in Walmart’s earnings reflects broader trends shaping the retail industry.

Continued shift toward digital commerce

Even as physical stores remain essential, online sales continue to grow faster, driven by convenience, personalization, and improved logistics infrastructure.

Rise of retail media and data monetization

Retailers increasingly monetize customer data through advertising platforms and sponsored product placements, creating new revenue streams beyond traditional product sales.

Competitive pressure from technology leaders

Major retailers are investing heavily in artificial intelligence, automation, and logistics optimization to remain competitive in an increasingly technology-driven marketplace.

Expansion of marketplace ecosystems

Retailers are evolving from traditional sellers into platforms that host third-party merchants, offer financial services, and provide advertising solutions.

Outlook for U.S. e-commerce growth

The latest earnings momentum suggests that U.S. e-commerce growth remains structurally strong despite macroeconomic uncertainties. Digital channels are no longer experimental add-ons but core profit engines for large retailers.

Walmart’s performance illustrates how scale, logistics infrastructure, and data-driven marketing are converging to redefine retail economics. As advertising, marketplace services, and fulfillment capabilities become increasingly integrated, the distinction between retailer, platform, and media company continues to blur.

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Walmart and Google are actively expanding their strategic partnership to integrate advanced artificial intelligence into the retail shopping experience. Announced and detailed through multiple industry and financial reports in early 2026, the collaboration centers on embedding Walmart’s commerce capabilities directly into Google’s generative AI ecosystem, marking a decisive shift toward AI-driven, conversational shopping.

This alliance positions AI not as a support feature but as the primary interface for product discovery, recommendations, and purchasing.

Walmart AI-Powered Shopping Through Google Gemini

At the core of the partnership is Google’s generative AI assistant, Gemini. Through this integration, Gemini gains direct access to Walmart’s product catalog, including selected assortments from Sam’s Club.

Consumers can now interact with AI in natural language to:

• Search for products across Walmart’s inventory
  
• Receive context-aware recommendations
  
• Compare prices, features, and availability
  
• Add items to a cart and complete purchases
  

All of these actions can occur within a single conversational interface, reducing the friction traditionally associated with e-commerce navigation.

From Search-Based Ecommerce to Agent-Led Commerce

This collaboration reflects a broader transition from keyword-based ecommerce to what industry leaders describe as agent-led commerce. Instead of browsing pages or filtering lists, shoppers interact with an AI agent that understands intent, preferences, and context.

By linking a Walmart account to Gemini, users unlock personalization features that allow the AI to factor in purchase history, preferred brands, and recurring needs. The result is a more proactive shopping assistant that can suggest replenishments, alternatives, or complementary products in real time.

The Universal Commerce Protocol and Open AI Ecosystems

A key technical foundation of the partnership is Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol. This open standard enables AI systems to interact consistently with retailer data, including inventory status, pricing, cart management, and checkout processes.

Walmart’s adoption of this protocol aligns with its broader strategy of open AI partnerships rather than reliance on a single proprietary platform. The approach allows Walmart to integrate multiple AI providers while maintaining control over its commerce infrastructure and customer relationships.

Competitive Positioning in the AI Retail Landscape

The Walmart–Google alliance arrives amid intensifying competition in AI-powered retail. While some competitors pursue vertically integrated AI stacks, Walmart has chosen a partner-driven model that leverages best-of-breed AI technologies.

For Google, the partnership strengthens Gemini’s real-world utility by embedding transactional capabilities directly into the AI experience. This narrows the gap between generative AI assistants and full-fledged digital commerce platforms.

Market Reaction and Business Impact

Financial markets have responded positively to the announcement and subsequent details of the partnership. Analysts point to the integration as evidence of Walmart’s continued evolution from a traditional retailer into a technology-enabled commerce platform.

Beyond stock performance, the collaboration signals long-term implications for how consumers engage with brands, how retailers compete for visibility in AI-driven interfaces, and how purchasing decisions are influenced by conversational agents rather than search rankings.

What This Means for Walmart and the Future of Retail

The Walmart and Google partnership illustrates a structural shift in e-commerce:

• Conversational AI becomes a primary shopping interface
  
• Discovery, recommendation, and checkout merge into a single flow
  
• Retailers compete for presence inside AI assistants, not just search results
  
• Personalization moves from static algorithms to dynamic, agent-driven interaction
  

As AI assistants increasingly act on behalf of consumers, partnerships like this one define who controls the commerce layer of the AI economy.

By integrating Walmart’s retail ecosystem directly into Google’s generative AI platform, the two companies are redefining how digital shopping works. The partnership moves e-commerce beyond websites and apps into intelligent, conversational experiences where AI agents guide users from intent to transaction.

This alliance is not an experiment. It is a blueprint for the next generation of retail.

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Walmart has taken a significant step forward in its digital transformation with the launch of Sparky, a powerful shopping assistant powered by generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Integrated directly into the Walmart app, Sparky is more than a chatbot—it’s a cornerstone in Walmart’s strategy to reinvent the shopping experience using intelligent autonomous agents.

A Smarter Companion for the Entire Shopping Journey

Sparky is designed to act as a proactive, intelligent shopping companion, guiding users through every stage of the purchasing process. Far beyond traditional product search tools, Sparky supports customers with:

• Review summaries for quick product evaluations
  
• Product comparisons tailored to user preferences
  
• Personalized suggestions for occasions like birthdays, beach trips, or sports events
  
• Contextual recommendations based on real-life scenarios, such as weather forecasts or current events
  

Unlike static search results, Sparky responds to user intent. Planning a barbecue? The assistant checks the weather, recommends a full menu, and manages product availability and delivery scheduling—all based on the user's preferences and history.

Transforming Search Into a Service Experience

Sparky turns online shopping into an interactive and service-oriented experience. When replacing household goods, the AI not only remembers preferred brands but also verifies stock and offers shipping alternatives. It even recommends apparel based on weather, creates event-based product lists, and personalizes suggestions in real time.

With these features, Walmart is no longer just fulfilling demand—it’s anticipating needs and adding value to every shopping interaction.

Upcoming Features: Multimodal and Cross-Channel Integration

In the months ahead, Walmart plans to expand Sparky’s capabilities with multimodal features, including:

• Text, image, video, and audio processing
  
• Automatic product categorization and service setup
  
• Interactive guides that link products to tasks (e.g., plumbing repairs, meal preparation)
  

These enhancements will allow Sparky to deliver a seamless, omnichannel user experience, matching the growing demand for cross-platform, intelligent shopping tools.

AI That Solves Real-World Problems

Sparky is positioned as more than a shopping assistant—it’s a practical problem solver. Whether helping users:

• Generate a weekly meal plan and prefilled shopping cart
  
• Suggest tools and step-by-step guides for home repairs
  
• Organize complete events, from gifts and decorations to menus, within a defined budget
  

Walmart’s GenAI platform is designed to handle both routine and complex tasks, making everyday life more manageable.

Reinforcing Walmart’s AI-Driven Retail Strategy

Sparky builds on Walmart’s existing ecosystem of AI-powered features, such as:

• Advanced search algorithms
  
• Real-time recommendation engines
  
• Customer review summarization
  

The launch of Sparky underscores Walmart’s commitment to innovation in digital commerce and positions the company at the forefront of AI-driven retail experiences.

With Sparky, Walmart is not just catching up with digital trends—it is redefining them. By integrating GenAI into the heart of its shopping experience, the retail giant is offering consumers a smarter, more efficient, and more personalized way to shop—laying the foundation for the future of autonomous, AI-powered commerce.

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Walmart’s transformation into a global e-commerce contender is no longer theoretical—it’s happening at full speed. As of mid-2025, the Walmart Marketplace has surpassed 200,000 active sellers, powered by the fastest onboarding rate in the platform’s history and according to recent data from Marketplace Pulse, 44,000 new sellers joined the platform in the first five months of 2025 alone, rapidly closing in on the 59,000 sellers added in all of 2024.

If this momentum holds, Walmart could welcome over 100,000 new sellers by the end of the year, nearly doubling the platform’s growth rate compared to 2024, when it expanded by 60% to reach 160,000 sellers. This explosive growth signals more than just numerical success—it marks a profound shift in strategy for the United States’ largest traditional retailer.

A Strategic Pivot: From Big-Box Retailer to Digital Marketplace Giant

Historically known for its brick-and-mortar dominance, Walmart is increasingly positioning itself as a modern digital marketplace. This effort is being supported by a nationwide marketing campaign under the slogan “Who knew?” to reshape public perception of Walmart.com as a vibrant, discovery-driven shopping destination.

With over 500 million products now available online and via mobile, Walmart’s digital footprint is expanding at an Amazon-like scale. Notably, 95% of these listings come from third-party sellers, reflecting Walmart’s evolution from a traditional retailer to a full-fledged third-party marketplace platform.

International Sellers Reshape the Walmart Ecosystem

Walmart opened its U.S. marketplace to international sellers in March 2021, and in just four years, the impact has been seismic. In 2025, nearly 60% of new sellers originate from China, which accounts for 34% of all active sellers on the platform.

This influx of global merchants starkly contrasts with Walmart’s traditional image. CEO Doug McMillon has repeatedly emphasized that "two-thirds of what we sell in the U.S. is made or grown in the U.S.," a message designed to reinforce its patriotic brand identity. However, while this remains largely true in Walmart’s physical stores, the online landscape tells a different story that resembles Amazon’s global seller ecosystem.

Seller Growth vs. Platform Integrity: Walmart’s Critical Challenge

Walmart’s biggest challenge in 2025 isn’t attracting new sellers—that trend is already firmly in motion. The real test lies in maintaining quality control, brand integrity, and a consistent customer experience as the platform scales at breakneck speed.

Unlike Amazon, which spent over a decade building a robust infrastructure to support its marketplace, Walmart is undergoing an accelerated evolution, compressing years of expansion into a much shorter time frame. This rapid growth introduces operational pressures, including:

• Ensuring product authenticity and safety
  
• Managing logistics and fulfillment performance
  
• Monitoring seller behavior and compliance
  
• Preserving brand trust with American consumers
  

Balancing rapid onboarding with long-term trust will determine whether Walmart can sustain its digital growth without compromising the customer experience that has defined its brand for decades.

Omnichannel Power: Leveraging 4,600 Physical Stores

Walmart’s ace up its sleeve is its massive U.S. store footprint. With over 4,600 locations nationwide, the company is uniquely positioned to merge physical retail with its digital marketplace in a truly omnichannel experience.

By integrating services like store pickup, same-day delivery, and local fulfillment, Walmart offers a hybrid shopping model that Amazon and most e-commerce platforms cannot easily replicate. This physical-digital synergy is not only a logistical advantage—it’s also a brand differentiator that strengthens customer loyalty and retention.

What’s Next for Walmart Marketplace in 2025 and Beyond?

As Walmart’s marketplace continues to expand, expect the company to focus heavily on:

• Marketplace governance: Tighter rules and vetting processes for new sellers
  
• Fulfillment innovation: Expansion of Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) to compete more directly with Amazon’s FBA
  
• AI-driven personalization: Improving product discovery and relevance through advanced algorithms
  
• Global seller tools: Enhancing tools for cross-border sellers, especially from China, India, and Southeast Asia
  

Walmart is not just growing—it’s redefining retail leadership in the 21st century. As it scales its third-party marketplace, it has the opportunity to build a more curated, quality-first alternative to Amazon, powered by its international reach and domestic infrastructure.

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Retail brands continue to experience significant growth, especially in e-commerce. According to a report by Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation consultancy, the total value of the 100 most valuable retail companies worldwide has increased by 9%, reaching 1.19 trillion euros by 2025. Of this total, 36 American brands comprise 68% of the global value, which translates to 789.3 billion euros.

Amazon and Walmart remain e-commerce leaders

Amazon, the global giant, remains the world's most valuable retail brand for the tenth consecutive year. In 2025, its brand value increased by 15% to 324.32 billion euros, making it the fourth most valuable brand globally.

For its part, Walmart, the retail leader in the United States, is positioned as the brand that has experienced the fastest growth in the top 10. It has achieved a 42% increase, reaching 124.33 billion euros. However, it faces reputational challenges, such as a class action lawsuit for fraudulent predatory practices, which could impact consumer confidence in the long term.

Leading brands in the sector

Originally from Australia, Kmart has led the fastest growth in the retail sector worldwide. It has recorded a remarkable increase of 79% in its brand value, reaching 2 billion euros. This progress is attributed to its magnificent performance in brand strength indicators. It has achieved perfect ratings in categories such as “preferred brand”, “brand I want”, “reputation”, and “brand I know well”. This has facilitated its 88.9 out of 100 rating in the Brand Strength Index (BSI).

In Europe, ICA, the Swedish supermarket chain, has established itself as the most powerful retail brand globally, debuting in the Retail 100 2025 ranking. It enters the ranking with a brand value of 1.64 billion euros and a BSI rating of 93.2 out of 100. With a market share of nearly 33%, ICA has a considerable presence in Sweden. Brand Finance reinforces its dominant position. It shows that the brand obtains high ratings among local consumers in criteria such as “meets my needs” (9.7 out of 10) and “is a brand I know well” (9.6).

E-commerce vs. traditional retail

The Brand Finance Global 500 2025 report reveals that brands born in e-commerce continue to dominate the global retail sector. They have established themselves as leaders in brand value and strength. Despite attempts by traditional companies to adjust to digitalisation, e-commerce companies continue to set the pace.

Amazon, the US e-commerce giant, continues to lead the world with a brand value of nearly 331.5 billion euros. The company has been at the top of the ranking for 10 years, and its ability to merge digital commerce with the customer experience continues to be its most significant competitive advantage.

Similarly, JD.com, the Chinese e-commerce giant, ranks eighth with a nearly 17.5 billion euros brand value. This increase is due to its strong Chinese market presence and global growth. It has established itself as a key player in the digital industry.

In the traditional retail sector, Walmart remains in second place with a brand value of around 127 billion euros, an increase of 42% compared to last year. Despite attempts to adapt to the digital context through private label strategies and aggressive discounts, Walmart continues to be inferior to Amazon regarding brand value.

Other more traditional brands, such as Home Depot, Costco, Lidl, and Aldi, have managed to maintain a prominent position in the ranking, despite the unstoppable advance of marketplaces and e-commerce, which are climbing higher and higher on the list.

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Walmart surpassed Amazon in worldwide digital advertising revenue growth during Q2 2024, posting a 26% increase, ahead of Amazon's 20%, according to the company's latest financial reports, based on data collected by eMarketer.

This notable increase is mainly due to the performance of its Walmart Retail Media division, Walmart Connect, which experienced 30% year-over-year growth.

According to projections made in March of this year, Walmart will capture 6.8% of all retail media advertising spend in the U.S. this fiscal year, equivalent to $3.72 billion.

So-called retail media networks are attracting billions in advertising spend. According to eMarketer, global Retail Media ad spending is expected to double from $114.18 billion in 2023 to $233.89 billion in 2027. In addition, Retail Media is projected to account for a larger share of digital ad spending, eclipsing traditional media spending, increasing from 18.9% of that segment in 2023 to 25.7% in 2027.

In this context, advertising bought through retail media networks is deployed across various platforms, including in-store displays, websites, mobile apps, streaming services, smart TVs, and social networks. This arena not only offers advertisers the opportunity to present their offerings to consumers willing to spend but also provides a valuable amount of first-party data. Retailers have a significant amount of data on their customers, from one-time shoppers to loyal shoppers, which is key for advertisers looking to optimize their exposure.

Walmart keeps growing

As reported by CNBC, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon recently highlighted the differentiating advantage retailers possess: “If brands advertise with a digital ad, for example, and a customer makes a transaction a week later in a store, we can connect it for them and let them know that the ad worked.”

Walmart has emerged as a key player in the Retail Media landscape. Its foray into advertising has contributed to the company's growth in recent quarters, and its recent deal to acquire TV maker Vizio underscores its commitment to this expanding business.

Overall, it seems Walmart is going through some ‘good times.’ Not only is their advertising growing, but their physical retail and e-commerce also showed some interesting statistics during 2023: 

• Walmart's Holiday-Quarter Earnings: With quarterly total sales of US$173.4 billion in Q4 2023, Walmart grew by 5.7%.

• Walmart eCommerce Boost: With a 23% increase in eCommerce sales, Walmart hit the US$100 billion mark in online sales in 2023.

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It is expected that in 2024 at least three-quarters of new sellers in Walmart's marketplace will come from China, surpassing records set against the previous month, all with a clear goal: to sell what Temu is selling.

According to Marketplace Pulse research, 73% of new sellers active on Walmart's marketplace in April were based in China, surpassing the previous record of 67% set in March. Thousands of new sellers apply monthly, but only 10-20% of signups are approved (approved and active sellers, as reported on Walmart.com).

Walmart added the same number of U.S. vendors in April 2023 and 2024, but while they represented 91% of the total in 2023, they dropped to 23% this year. The decline was due to a massive increase in new vendors from China; in April, nearly as many were added as during all of 2023; Walmart began allowing international vendors in March 2021, but, except for small groups of vendors from India, Canada, the U.K. and Vietnam, all are from China. "Two-thirds of what we sell in the U.S. is made or grown in the U.S.," said Doug McMillon, Walmart CEO, in an interview in Stratechery.

Amazon is also betting on China-based sellers 

Amazon has followed a similar path for nearly a decade: China-based sellers account for nearly 50% of the top sellers on Amazon. This year, Amazon acknowledged the market share of Chinese sellers on its platform for the first time, calling it "significant."

Walmart hosted the first seller meeting in Shenzhen in March this year; in February, it launched a Chinese version of the Seller Central dashboard and began allowing sellers to submit support cases in Chinese. It is also running a beta program to simplify imports into WFS, its fulfillment service.

Walmart and Temu, the new disruptor that has caught everyone's attention, are becoming more similar than different, Walmart and Amazon allow direct shopping from China with fast shipping enabled by Walmart and Amazon warehouses that store sellers' imported products. AliExpress, Shein and Temu allow buying from China without fast shipping but at lower prices, often, being the same seller behind each platform.

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Walmart's e-commerce benefits keep growing primarily due to its e-commerce platform. One of the world's largest retail groups, Walmart continued a trend of positive results in the second quarter of the year. The United States is going through a difficult period due to rising inflation. Still, the company has found the best strategy to overcome the difficulties: a policy of ultra-low prices mainly anchored on its e-commerce platform.

"We had another strong - positive - quarter. Around the world, our customers and members are prioritizing value and convenience," said Doug McMillon, Walmart's president and chief executive officer, in a press release, adding, "Food is a strength. Still, we are also encouraged by our results in general merchandise compared to our expectations when we started the quarter. Our associates helped deliver increases in the number of transactions and units sold, and earnings are growing faster than sales." 

The company's revenue came in at $161.6 billion ( around €148 million), representing a growth of 5.9% compared to the same period in 2022. Operating profit grew by 6.7% to 7.316 billion dollars (around 6.74 billion euros). And consolidated net income reached 7,891 million dollars, representing a significant increase of 53.3%.

Walmart advertising: a booming business

Another business line that has reported good results for the company has been advertising, achieving a worldwide increase of 35% compared to the previous year. Walmart advertising is done via all of the Walmart e-commerce and website properties, where the brand sells spaces for other companies or brands to showcase their services or products. 

Walmart's international business also did well, with net sales of 27 billion dollars (11% more than the previous year). The growth that the company relates in its press release to the results obtained from the sales of Walmex, China, and Flipkart, e-commerce sales, and advertising.

It also highlighted the results obtained by its Sam's Clubs brand, which closed the quarter with solid sales led by food and consumables and an increase in membership revenues of 7%.

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Walmart is selling the online apparel brand Eloquii to FullBeauty Brands, marking the retailer’s third divestiture of a direct-to-consumer brand this year.

The big-box retailer sold Bonobos to WHP Global and Express earlier this month and offloaded Moosejaw to Dick’s Sporting Goods in February. The sales are a reversal of a 2017-18 strategy led by Marc Lore, Walmart’s former head of e-commerce.

The retailer bought Eloquii in 2018 for a reported $100 million, one of the numerous digital apparel brands with niche and loyal consumer bases. The goal was to build out the retailer’s online assortment with higher-margin apparel and home merchandise. The acquisitions would also bring in talent that could help Walmart accelerate its digital strategy.

“Eloquii joined Walmart’s portfolio of digitally native vertical brands to expand our Women’s assortment in sizes 14+ and offer the unique and differentiated product in an underserved but growing segment,” Walmart spokesperson Jaeme Laczkowski said in a statement. “Since acquiring Eloquii, Walmart.com has grown to hundreds of millions of items, and we’ve decided it’s the right time to sell Eloquii.”

FullBeauty Brands is buying Eloquii for an undisclosed sum, retaining its co-founder and brand leader, Julie Carnevale. Eloquii will join a portfolio of online plus-size apparel, shoes, and swimwear brands under FullBeauty Brands, which has 5 million active customers. 

Walmart re-engineering its business in 2023

Walmart is re-engineering its supply chain and business model in 2023. The brand aims to fulfill customer needs with a more intelligent and connected omnichannel network enabled by greater data use, intelligent software, and automation. 

The outcome improves in-stock, inventory accuracy, and flow whether customers shop in stores, pick up, or have a delivery.

Walmart showcased its supply chain innovation Tuesday at its Brooksville, Fla., regional distribution center as one piece of how the company is building a scaled system of supply chain capabilities that uses data, software, and robotics. 

Through automation and state-of-the-art technology, the company illustrated how the increased item storage allows the distribution center to provide a more consistent, predictable, and higher-quality delivery service to stores and customers and react more quickly to customer demand.

Stores operate as a place to shop and as fulfillment centers and delivery stations. Distribution and fulfillment centers hold a mix of items from suppliers and sellers. This allows Walmart to use its existing assets more flexibly and efficiently for new working methods.

By the end of Fiscal Year 2026, Walmart believes roughly 65% of stores will be serviced by automation, approximately 55% of the fulfillment center volume will move through automated facilities, and unit cost averages could improve by about 20%.

As the changes are implemented across the business, one of the outcomes is roles that require less physical labor but have a higher pay rate. Over time, the company anticipates increased throughput per person due to automation while maintaining or improving its associates' number as new roles are created.

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