Amazon Advertising
Walmart vs. Amazon: Where Should Your eCommerce Brand Be Selling in 2025?
For years, Amazon was the only name that mattered in online marketplace strategy. But in 2025, Walmart’s digital growth is outpacing Amazon’s in key areas. Their U.S. ecommerce sales jumped 26% year-over-year. App usage and web traffic are surging. And brands are taking notice, not just because of the numbers, but because of the intent behind them. As Incrementum Digital’s CEO, Liran Hirschkorn, pointed out, Walmart isn’t trying to out-Amazon Amazon. It’s attacking where Amazon is weakest: seller loyalty. While Amazon raises fees and tightens margins, Walmart is rolling out incentives, infrastructure, and omnichannel integration that actually help brands grow. The question isn’t whether to sell on Walmart or Amazon; it’s how, where, and why you allocate budget, effort, and strategy across both. Let’s break it down.
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Amazon Versus Walmart: What’s the Real Difference for Sellers?
On the surface, both platforms look similar: big audiences, marketplace tools, and ad networks promising growth. But for sellers in the trenches, the differences are everything.
Amazon is a mature, high-volume machine, optimized for scale, but increasingly pay-to-play. It’s where product-market fit meets competitive warfare, and where visibility often depends on how deep your ad budget goes. Walmart Marketplace, on the other hand, is a challenger platform: leaner, less saturated, and actively courting sellers with lower fees, higher margins, and retail integration opportunities Amazon doesn’t offer.
From customer intent to ad platform sophistication, here’s how the two really stack up, and why choosing the right channel strategy isn’t about preference, it’s about fit.
Platform Maturity and Traffic Volume
Amazon continues to dominate online space with stunning engagement. In July 2025, it received approximately 2.82 billion visits, outpacing platforms like Walmart by a factor of about 6x. This underscores the deep audience reach brands can tap into on Amazon. Walmart, while smaller online, is growing steadily, particularly in e-commerce penetration and grocery sales.
Customer Demographics and Buying Psychology
Amazon Prime customers drive its e-commerce strength with expectations of convenience and fast, reliable delivery, factors reinforcing brand stickiness. Walmart’s shoppers lean toward value-first purchases, especially in staples like groceries. In online grocery, Walmart held approximately 32% market share in 2025, compared to Amazon’s 22.6%.
Competitive Intensity and Fee Structures
Amazon remains the online retail leader, capturing nearly 10% of total U.S. retail spending in Q2 2025, outpacing Walmart’s stagnant 7–8% share. Meanwhile, Walmart is gaining ground via e-commerce growth and value-driven operations, even though it trails Amazon online as a whole.
Ad Platform Differences: Amazon Ads vs. Walmart Connect
While specific CPC figures may vary, the narrative is clear: Amazon Ads offers scalable targeting and audience reach, but it comes with high competition and rising ad costs. Walmart Connect is emerging rapidly as a retail media player with less crowded auction space, improved seller incentives, and expanding ad capabilities, making it increasingly attractive.
Walmart Plus Versus Amazon Prime Membership
Pricing & Value Proposition
- Walmart Plus costs $98/year (or $13/month), which is notably cheaper than Amazon Prime at $139/year ($15/month).
- For budget-conscious shoppers who don’t need every feature, that $40 savings can be meaningful.
Grocery Dominance vs. Convenience Delivery
- Walmart leads in digital grocery: commanding 31.6% of U.S. online grocery sales in 2025, compared to 22.6% for Amazon.
- It also wins on same-day delivery for grocery orders: 48% of its grocery-only shoppers opted for same-day delivery, versus 36% for Amazon.
- Amazon is closing the gap, expanding same-day delivery of perishables to 2,300 U.S. cities by year-end 2025, targeting Prime members.
Member Behavior & Bundling Strategy
- Both platforms offer comparable core perks: free shipping, grocery delivery, and returns.
- Walmart Plus includes Paramount + Essential streaming and now allows members to choose Peacock Premium instead (switchable every 90 days), adding tiered entertainment value.
- Both platforms offer 30-day free trials, and discounts for government-assisted individuals; Amazon also offers student discounts.
Is Selling on Walmart Worth It?
Yes, but only if you don’t copy your Amazon playbook. Many brands jump into Walmart Marketplace assuming they can replicate their Amazon strategy… then quickly learn that it doesn’t work. Why? Because while the infrastructure looks similar, the shopper behavior, platform mechanics, and success metrics are entirely different.
Different Shopper Expectations
- Amazon customers are often Prime members—willing to pay more for speed, convenience, and branded experiences.
- Walmart shoppers are value-driven. Price and practicality win. Premium products like an $89 supplement (referenced by Liran Hirschkorn) often flop here unless paired with a retail presence or re-priced accordingly.
Bottom line: You’re not selling to the same customer. Tailor your offer or expect poor conversion.
Fees and Fulfillment Models Aren’t the Same
- Amazon: Higher referral fees (up to 45% in some categories), heavy ad spend required, and FBA costs continue rising.
- Walmart: No monthly seller fee, referral fees typically 6%–15%, and Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) offers lower-cost alternatives to FBA.
Translation: Walmart is margin-friendlier, but only if your pricing model fits the platform.
When It Doesn’t Work
Liran shared a real scenario: a brand doing $50–60K/month on Amazon tried launching their $89 supplement on Walmart. Same listings, same pricing. But the result is almost no traction. That’s because the Walmart customer wasn’t buying premium; they were shopping to save. The brand skipped retail integration and ignored price positioning. That’s a classic copy-paste fail.
Is Selling on Walmart Worth It?
Yes, but only if you treat it like its own channel, not a second-class version of Amazon.
Selling on Walmart is worth it when you rethink your pricing strategy, reposition your products for value-driven shoppers, and tailor your content to match Walmart’s buying intent. That means simplifying listings, focusing on clarity over keyword stuffing, and aligning with Walmart’s emphasis on structured data, competitive pricing, and fast fulfillment.
It’s also about playing the long game. Walmart is a critical piece of an omnichannel strategy, especially for CPG, grocery, and household brands looking to bridge the gap between digital and in-store. And unlike Amazon, Walmart can be your entry point into retail shelves, if your online performance backs it up.
From a media standpoint, Walmart offers less saturated ad real estate and lower CPCs, making it a smart place to diversify your budget without immediately driving up acquisition costs.
But here’s the key: don’t mirror your Amazon strategy. Test instead. Use Walmart to validate new formats, creative angles, and pricing strategies. Treat each platform’s algorithm, shopper behavior, and competitive environment as unique. Walmart isn’t Amazon, and that’s exactly why it’s worth selling on.
Want to know which platform can actually grow your brand? Reach out to our team, and we’ll break down the numbers for your product.
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