For the past few years, it would seem as if Amazon got all the great press. Every holiday season, they took a larger chunk out of the pockets of retail stores. They were winning the war and forcing several big names to decide to close their doors for good.
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, wasn’t going to sit back and let it happen. They saw their own profits start to dwindle and decided to jump in the online market to compete. And compete they did!
One retail expert was quoted by Fox Business as saying that Walmart has finally put an end to Amazon’s dominance. Not just by revamping their ecommerce, but also through updating their stores.
We’ve previously reported that one of the main reasons why Amazon was able to put Toys ‘R Us out of business was because they weren’t able to catch up. Their stores were outdated and they had no online game. Walmart read the signs and decided to do something about it.
At the end of the day, Walmart has lower prices. When you can do the same thing as your competitors, but do it cheaper, you’re going to win. Simple as that.
Putting a heavy emphasis on its newer, better website, Walmart was able to bump sales up 33% in the first quarter of this year. They also acquired other online retailers, such as Jet.com and Flipkart, to help increase their visibility in countries like India.
It’s not just online sales that have been bolstered. Reports reveal that more Americans have been flocking to the stores with in-store sales rising 2.6% as well. According to Burt Flickinger, managing director at Strategic Resource Group, it’s all about American Patriotism. Walmart knows its customer base and is winning them over.
It’s All About Patriotism
“They are winning on patriotism. You’ve never seen so much patriotism in terms of action alley. There are U.S. flags on every shelf, every merchandising aisle. It stimulates pride and people. They are buying more and Walmart is laying waste to the rest of U.S. retail,” he said.
“Walmart is going to beat Amazon on land and with Flipkart and with Jet, Walmart’s going to start winning even more online.”
It remains to be seen how this will all play out. It was all but a sure thing that Amazon would eventually edge out all competitors and take the number one retail spot, but defeating Walmart won’t be that easy.
Now with Amazon raising the prices of Prime as much as 20%, even after recording record-high profits, it might just be enough to get people off the computer and back into brick-and-mortar…especially if the prices are right.
As we come off the July 4th holiday, you’d think of the fireworks, parades, and BBQs, but Walmart is also a part of that small-town community charm while Amazon is still just a website. Maybe there’s room for both to fight head-to-head, but Walmart certainly has come back from behind.
