Amazon and Walmart Are Now Chasing the Same Shopper

New data from the latest issue of PYMNTS Intelligence’s “Share of Wallet: Amazon vs. Walmart” report reveals where each of the retail behemoths is winning in that quest and where they’ve got work to do.

If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Join Them?

The data shows that Amazon still leads in the fun, non-essential stuff, while Walmart dominates in necessities. For instance, Amazon captured 35% of consumer spending in the sporting goods, hobby items, music and books category, while Walmart has seized 21% of food and beverage spend. Now, both are pushing into the other’s territory.

The two retailers may be at odds. But in a way, they’re also each other’s best teachers.

“What’s changing is how aggressively both retailers are moving beyond those traditional lanes,” Doug Straton, chief marketing officer at Bazaarvoice (and former chief digital officer of Hershey), told PYMNTS in an interview. “Walmart is expanding its digital and marketplace capabilities to compete in more discovery-driven categories, while Amazon is pushing further into everyday essentials and repeat purchases.”

Busy shoppers want this kind of all-in-one experience. They don’t just want convenience for some purchases, nor are they happy only being able to trust items they can see for themselves at the store.

“The line between routine and discretionary shopping is blurring, and consumers now expect both speed and confidence regardless of where they shop,” Straton said.

Overall, Amazon’s in the lead, capturing 11% of consumer retail spending and 4.6% of overall consumer spending in Q4 2025. Walmart was at 7.7% and 2.9%, respectively. Much of the gap comes down to Amazon’s eCommerce strength.

Need for Speed?

In a want-or-need-it-now world, Amazon’s speed is a shiny lure, with items arriving faster than ever. Recently, the company began rolling out new one- and three-hour delivery options, a Trojan horse service that could help ingrain the Seattle-based company in people’s everyday consumption habits.

“This is less about faster shipping and more about increasing purchase frequency, capturing impulse demand and embedding Amazon deeper into the fabric of daily consumption,” Shauna Bowen, chief digital and transformation officer at Radial, told PYMNTS. “As Amazon expands automated, purpose-built local fulfillment, Walmart will need to invest in automation and operating model changes or absorb higher costs to stay competitive.”

But delivery speed isn’t everything. Dinesh Gauri, a professor of marketing at the University at Buffalo School of Management, argued in an interview with PYMNTS that, while quick fulfillment is important, Amazon and Walmart are “killing their margins” by prioritizing it too much. Shoppers, he added, also want competitive pricing and accurate inventory information (which isn’t always easy to find, per previous PYMNTS Intelligence research).

Another key factor is making sure that customers feel supported, able to easily get help when something goes wrong.

“Amazon has great customer service,” Gauri said. “You call, and many things are taken care of within a few minutes, if not seconds. I think Walmart is playing a lot of catch up in the online space. He added that while Walmart was “stepping up their customer service game,” he’d prefer to talk to an associate in a store, not online.

Food for Thought

Given Amazon’s lead in so many retail categories, its weakness in grocery stands out. It’s captured just 3% of the market. Its Whole Foods division has its happy place with higher-end shoppers, but its mass-market brick-and-mortar grocery moves have stumbled. At the start of this year, the retailer said it was pulling the plug on Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go.

“Walmart has really leveraged their physical footprint towards driving convenience for consumers, with same-day delivery and curbside or in-store pickup, making it very easy and seamless, though it’s certainly not perfect,” Ricky Volpe, a professor of agribusiness at Cal Poly, said in an interview with PYMNTS. “I think Amazon is still struggling with the infrastructure side of the cold chain, dealing with perishability and aesthetics and all.”

Walmart has had decades to slowly build up its hub-and-spoke network of warehouses and stores across the United States. Amazon, meanwhile, has tried to muscle on in-real-life shopping without that time-tested expertise.

Here’s where Walmart’s focus on brick-and-mortar proves to be a key asset, even in the age of digital commerce. It’s not just because customers can, say, feel for the ripest avocado with their own hands, but also because its stores work as Amazon-style fulfillment hubs. Whole Foods has been relatively successful, because Amazon acquired the brand when it had already laid all the groundwork. So, Volpe prediced, if Amazon is going to have more success in mass-market grocery, that’s also going to “happen through acquisitions.”

After all, it’s not easy to start a grocery chain from scratch.

“When we’re talking about food,” Volpe said, “which is costly, expensive, challenging and logistically involved to get from point A to B to C, Walmart, frankly, has a huge advantage in leveraging its stores. It’s brilliant, and it’s very, very effective.”

Pedal to the Metal

One area where Amazon has been gaining ground—and where Walmart has been sliding—is auto parts. In the six years between Q4 2019 and Q4 2025, Amazon’s share of consumer retail spending in the category grew from 10% to 14%. Walmart’s fell from 19% to 16%. Walmart still has the lead, but at the rate the two companies are going, that might not be for long. For instance, Amazon has been expanding its Amazon Autos test, which lets car companies list their vehicles through Amazon’s site and app.

But that initiative might not turbocharge things.

CarEdge Co-founder Ray Shefska argued in an interview with PYMNTS that Amazon Autos might not be such a game-changer, since it doesn’t remove the notorious friction for car-buying consumers so much as delay it.

“Customers may end up disappointed when they complete the process at the dealership and the usual pressure is applied to add protection packages and other ancillary items when signing their paperwork,” Shefska said. “It just delays the aggravation and sales pressure until you pick up your vehicle.”

Out of the Box (Literally)

Over the last few years, consumers have been spending less on retail and more on services. If Amazon and Walmart want to both capture more spending and stay relevant in people’s lives, it may mean expanding to categories that can’t be fit inside a cardboard box.

“The next decade of retail competition will be won or lost in categories that neither Amazon nor Walmart has historically dominated,” economist Shawn DuBravac told PYMNTS. “Health, financial services and subscription-based experiences are where the incremental consumer dollar is flowing, and that is where the real battle is now being fought.”