Amazon Topples Walmart

Source: Unsplash.com

The news of Amazon overtaking Walmart as the world’s largest retailer might seem obvious if you only look at developments in the last few years. But if you’ve been around the industry for a few decades, then you know this is HUGE news.

One thing to note before I continue: this is world’s largest retailer outside of China. Alibaba has that title when you include China in the mix.

Back when I first started, Walmart was big but it wasn’t the giant that it eventually became. Sure it was a huge percentage of any CPG or food brand’s sales, but it didn’t dominate other categories and it didn’t dominate overall retail sales like it eventually conquered. As a result, Walmart gained control of most consumer goods distribution plan and took control of a dominant portion of sales.

Walmart got so big that it was hard to imagine any other retailer getting anywhere near close. Target perhaps but it there was still such a huge spread that it was unimaginable that anyone would topple Walmart.

Walmart stood for “everyday low prices” and that was a positioning that at the time was hard to beat. Crowds rushed to every Walmart location, urban and rural.

Enter Amazon. e-Commerce. Cyber Monday. Smart phones. A pandemic with shelter in place. Enter Amazon and the world’s (outside of China) largest retailer.

I guess “everyday low prices” perhaps has a different resonance in a world of less brick and mortar overhead and same-day delivery.

N of one here … I’m there. Although I never thought I’d see the day.

What’s your take? What’s your experience? JIM