Once seen as outdated in the e-commerce era, Walmart has emerged as a strong competitor to Amazon in fast delivery. Leveraging its 4,700 stores as fulfillment hubs, Walmart doubled its same-day deliveries to five billion items last year, reaching 93% of U.S. households. Unlike Amazon, which does not disclose exact figures, Walmart’s delivery network is sometimes faster, especially for groceries and everyday essentials. The WSJ reports about it.
Walmart delivered five billion items on the same day they were ordered last year, double the number offered in 2023. It can now provide most of the 120,000 products in its sprawling supercenters, including meat, eggs, and milk, to 93% of U.S. households the same day, sometimes in hours.
To achieve this, Walmart developed Spark Delivery, a network of freelance drivers handling most of its same-day deliveries. Walmart pays Spark drivers about $10, plus a tip, to pick up orders from Walmart workers at stores and sometimes collect items from shelves. The payment increases if an order includes many items or is a longer drive.
While e-commerce accounts for 18% of Walmart’s revenue, it is not yet profitable. However, the company is expanding into high-margin areas like advertising. Despite this, investors remain confident, with Walmart’s stock doubling in two years. About 41% of all U.S. e-commerce sales go through Amazon, a much more significant share than Walmart’s 9%. According to the WSJ, Amazon could overtake Walmart this year as the country’s largest company by revenue if sales trends persist.
Walmart’s strategy focuses on using groceries—over half of its U.S. revenue—to attract online shoppers who buy higher-margin items like clothing and home goods. The retailer also appeals to high-income shoppers with premium products and Walmart+ benefits.
Meanwhile, Amazon is expanding its fresh grocery delivery but struggles to dominate the space, experimenting with different store formats and fulfillment methods. As competition intensifies, Walmart’s affordability, convenience, and speed position it as a formidable challenger in the e-commerce landscape.