Walmart’s Gains in Premium Market Shake Up Holiday Sales

Following a strong Black Friday and Cyber Monday, both Walmart and Amazon reported record-breaking sales, with their platforms seeing growth from third-party sellers.

Walmart reported record sales for its third-party Marketplace during the early holiday shopping season, with the period from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, including Cyber Monday, marking its highest-ever sales day and conversion rate.

The company highlighted growth in its eCommerce business, with overall sales up 22% in the most recent quarter, with Marketplace sales growing 43%.

Walmart also noted a large portion of its market share gains came from higher-income households, with 75% of gains attributed to households earning $100,000 or more annually. This shift is driving demand for both discretionary and grocery purchases, creating opportunities for premium brands.

Amazon: Record Sales With Independent Sellers

In comparison, Amazon also reported record sales during its Black Friday week and Cyber Monday event, which ran from Nov. 21 to Dec. 2. Independent sellers made up more than 60% of Amazon’s sales during the event, which was described as the largest for the company to date.

Best-sellers included Amazon’s Echo and Fire TV devices, and popular categories in the U.S. were electronics, toys and beauty products.

Strategic Omnichannel Approaches

In an interview with PYMNTS, Zachary Robichaud, instructor, School of Retail Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University, noted Amazon and Walmart’s success during the Black Friday-Cyber Monday weekend showcased their strategic advantages in leveraging robust online sales platforms and an effective omnichannel approach.

“These strategies enabled them to seamlessly cater to consumer preferences across both digital and physical channels,” Robichaud explained. “At the same time, ongoing economic pressures have resulted in heightened price sensitivity among consumers, many of whom deferred purchases until major discount events such as Black Friday.”

Walmart’s strategy emphasizes the integration of its extensive physical store network with its digital platforms, offering services like curbside pickup, same-day delivery, and buy-online-pickup-in-store (BOPIS), Robichaud said.

“These options appeal to consumers who value convenience and immediate access to purchases, especially during high-demand periods,” he explained. “Walmart has also leveraged its mobile app and in-store inventory management to ensure a seamless shopping experience across channels.”

Amazon capitalizes on its vast online infrastructure, supported by innovations like one-click ordering, personalized recommendations, and its expansive logistics network, Robichaud said.

“Its focus on Prime memberships — offering exclusive deals, fast shipping, and early access to discounts — further strengthens customer loyalty and drives online sales,” he said.

“For Cyber Monday, Amazon traditionally dominates the digital space with its emphasis on flash deals and extensive product variety, appealing to price-conscious consumers hunting for last-minute bargains. Together, these approaches highlight how both companies have tailored their omnichannel strategies to meet evolving consumer expectations, ensuring strong performances across both Black Friday and Cyber Monday.”

Here’s a look at other developments from Amazon and Walmart in the past week:

Amazon Highlights

• Amazon Music Unveils 2024 Year-End Recap: Amazon joins the trend of year-end music streaming recaps with its new feature, Amazon Music Delivered 2024. This service provides users with a summary of their listening habits, including global and country-specific statistics and best-of-year playlists across multiple genres such as indie, hip-hop and pop. Besides music, it also highlights the most-played podcasts of 2024. Users can access their personal recap by opening the Amazon Music app, selecting the Library tab, and tapping on the “2024 Delivered” banner.
• AWS and Anthropic Partner to Create 5x Bigger Supercomputer: Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Anthropic are developing a supercomputer, called “Project Rainier,” that will be five times larger and more powerful than Anthropic’s current AI training infrastructure. The EC2 UltraCluster, featuring Trn2 UltraServers powered by hundreds of thousands of Trainium2 chips, is designed to enhance performance and cost-efficiency for training large AI models. When completed, it will provide more than five times the exaflops of Anthropic’s current setup and is expected to become the world’s largest AI computer cluster. This initiative follows AWS’s expanded partnership with Anthropic, including a $4 billion investment, to further develop and deploy AI models.

Walmart Highlights

• Walmart Finalizes Acquisition of Vizio:  Walmart completed its acquisition of Vizio, finalizing the deal after the expiration of the federal regulatory waiting period. The acquisition includes Vizio’s SmartCast Operating System and is expected to elevate Walmart’s customer experience and expand its advertising capabilities through Walmart Connect, its retail media business. Walmart’s acquisition seeks to strengthen its advertising offerings and support growth in its omnichannel retail media efforts. The deal was valued at about $2.3 billion.
• Walmart Partners With Aira to Assist Blind Shoppers: Walmart has launched a pilot program to assist blind shoppers by partnering with the Aira app, which connects users to professional sighted interpreters who provide visual assistance for navigating stores and reading text. The service is free and aims to support the approximately 12 million U.S. adults with vision impairment. The initiative comes amid broader corporate changes, including a rollback of Walmart’s diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, though it remains unclear how these changes will affect future disability accommodations.

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