How Amazon Is Actually Beating Walmart's Grocery Deals

Online shopping was once a matter of convenience, but during the pandemic, it was a matter of necessity. When we were all on lockdown, online grocery delivery was one of the safest ways to shop for many. And grocery stores stepped up to the challenge, even though just one year before the pandemic, only 19% of customers had shopped for groceries online (via Forbes). While getting groceries delivered to your house once seemed like a premium service, it's now the norm.

The days of wandering around a grocery store are over, as people have settled into routines and want to go in, get their items, and get out as quickly as possible (via The Washington Post). This shift is not good news for Walmart, a store that counts on foot traffic for sales. Anyone else wander the aisles of the grocery giant for fun in high school? Since in-store shopping has decreased, Walmart has added more convenient online shopping options, like InHome grocery delivery (via TechCrunch). But despite these new grocery delivery methods, Walmart is fighting to keep up with Amazon's grocery delivery program.

Say what you want about Amazon, but the e-commerce giant has figured out how to get products to customers quicker, and often at a lower price, than competitors. And Amazon has the numbers to back it up. The company was responsible for over half of online sales in the U.S. in Q1 of 2022, while Walmart was hanging out around 6% (via PYMNTS). While Amazon blows Walmart away in total online sales, the store holds nearly 20% of the food and beverage market, while the online giant has about 2%. Don't let that number fool you though: PYMNTS says Amazon is the second-leading retail grocer in the U.S., even outpacing Costco, Kroger, and Target.

Walmart has the advantage of in-store shopping over Amazon, but according to PYMNTS, Walmart has not seen a corresponding rise in revenue from customers returning to stores. It's a challenge made worse for Walmart as customers are presented with another shopping option: Amazon's Subscribe & Save. Not only does this option save customers money at checkout, if they subscribe to five or more items, they can save up to 15% off their total order (via Amazon). The online retailer is hoping consumers don't even have to think about ordering items, and they opt to have products show up at their door. It's a whole new level of convenience in this evolving e-commerce space.