Submitted by: Grace Villarica

Everyone wants to steal Amazons throne, or so it seems.

It used to be only eBay who was after it, but social networking superstar Facebook recently rolled out Marketplace which allows users to buy and sell among themselves within the FB community.

The latest one to join the race is Walmart.

That good ol bricks-and-mortar store everybody loves for its very affordable goods has just announced its eCommerce fourth-quarter plans for 2016.

Walmart may not be a newbie to eCommerce, having been in the industry since 2001, but it remains far behind big marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and even Alibaba.

However, Walmart is confident that with additional warehouses and a touch of technology it can surpass what Amazon has achieved.

After putting a whopping $3.3 billion into eCommerce start-up Jet.com last month, Walmart revealed that it is investing $11 billion in capital spending for fiscal year 2018 to expand its online sales.

Part of the companys plan is to put up 10 warehouses to be able to accommodate online orders in a timely manner.

Whats more, it has successfully put together a new technology for automated product sorting and item tracking last year.

Changes to Walmart

If you are a Walmart Supercenter and Neighborhood Market regular, you might want to know that the giant retailer plans to cut down on its physical stores.

In 2018 only 35 new Supercenters and 20 new Neighborhood Markets are expected to rise.

Walmart said it will be focusing on remodelling its existing stores.

With all these serious preparations, Walmart seems determined to stamp its mark on eCommerce.

However, the question that remains is how are they going to fare to Amazon?

Walmart vs Amazon

Let us not forget that Amazon Prime currently has a total of 60 million customers, which could only get bigger by the day.

In addition to that, it has over 40 warehouses in different parts of the world.

That explains why no other marketplace can get orders as fast as Amazon to a customer’s doorstep.

That’s not all. A couple of months back Amazon launched its drone delivery system; no other eCommerce company has done this before.

Also, Amazon has expanded as an online grocery, adding a Food & Beverages category to its already extensive list of categories.

Despite the distance it has to run in order to catch up with the giant eCommerce company, Walmart is not at all discouraged.

After all, it has 11,528 stores worldwide which, according to eCommerce experts, can be used to accommodate high volume of online orders especially during the peak season like the upcoming holidays.

Furthermore, Walmart has managed to acquire a total of 15 eCommerce start-ups since 2011.

One of which was even responsible for opening Walmart’s first Silicon Valley-based firm @WalmartLabs five years ago.

In that case, looks like Amazon has found a match in Walmart after all.

This is some battle to look out for, especially if you’re a seasoned seller on Amazon.

Seller’s Adjustments

The last thing you want is for your business to lag behind the continuously evolving eCommerce market.

Though that doesn’t necessarily mean your eyes should be constantly glued on the sales of Amazon versus that of Walmart’s.

It’s enough to know a bit of what’s going on between the two, but you should focus more on improving your own products.

That way you can confidently sell on any platform, unmindful of who’s actually leading the race.

Take advantage of multichannel software and apps so you can always be where your customers are.

About the Author: Online sellers don’t be left behind. Multichannel marketing is the quickest route to reach your customers. You are welcome to join our discussions on

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about Magento, M2E Pro, Magmi and other eCommerce tools that make selling on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay easier and more profitable.

Source:

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