In week 11 (March 9 to 15) of 2020, foot traffic in Walmart stores was up by 16.86 percent when compared to the equivalent period in 2019. As of March, 2020, 28 percent of Americans reported that they were stockpiling food because of the coronavirus. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

In December 2023, YouTube was the social media platforms that referred the most traffic to walmart.com, accounting for more than 32 percent of referrals to the U.S.-based retailer's website. Reddit was also a big contributor, as it generated 15.23 percent of the total social media traffic to walmart.com.

Amazon Prime Day drives higher online traffic to the marketplace website, at the expenses of other Amazon's competitors. On the occasion of Amazon Prime Day 2021, the traffic to pages of consumer packaged goods (CPG) sold on Amazon grew by 14.4 percent compared to the average traffic of the e-commerce giant. In turn, Walmart saw its online views decrease by 0.1 percent for the same categories of products.

In the second week of March 2020, foot traffic in Sam's Club stores increased by 66.9 percent when compared to the same period in 2019. After weeks of increased foot traffic in their stores, Costco, Target, and Walmart Supercenter all experienced a decrease in foot traffic in the third week of March. This represented the first drop in traffic since the beginning of the pandemic in the United States.
For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Swings in the economy have a limited impact on warehouse clubs and supercenters because these retail establishments offer low-priced goods. When consumer sentiment is high, shoppers spend more time visiting industry retailers and buying extra items. Conversely, when consumer sentiment is low, warehouse clubs and superstores draw a larger pool of consumers as households seek to cut expenses by buying in bulk for the future. Many of these retailers have been able to attract and retain more business by offering memberships and reward programs that disincentivize consumers to visit the competition. Revenue for warehouse clubs and supercenters is expected to climb at a CAGR of 3.2% to $771.1 billion through the end of 2025, including growth of 2.8% in 2025 alone. In the same year, profit will account for 3.5% of revenue, a dip from 2020 because of strong competitive forces and inflation. Online companies can undercut traditional warehouse clubs and supercenters' prices by taking advantage of lower operational costs. The brick-and-mortar warehouse clubs and supercenters incur higher operational costs than online-based businesses because they pay for high-traffic retail space and require employees for daily operations. Retailers are increasingly optimizing their online presence for mobile shopping. Walmart, a leader in the industry, has introduced a competing service known as Walmart+, which costs $98.00 annually. Walmart+ provides members with unlimited free deliveries, fuel discounts and a more streamlined in-store shopping experience via the Scan & Go feature on the Walmart app. Although this service emphasizes increasing Walmart's e-commerce sales, the fuel discounts and access to the Scan & Go feature on the company's app will encourage in-store purchases. Warehouse clubs and supercenters' revenue will expand as the domestic economy surges. Consumer spending and corporate profit boosts encourage future revenue growth by prompting more consumers to buy club memberships and spend on bulk purchases. Consumption rates will continue to climb across the US, promoting strong foot traffic and these retailers that often sell products in bulk. Nonetheless, increasing online competition will continue to threaten the industry as retailers like Amazon expand their customer base. Revenue for warehouse clubs and supercenters is expected to swell at a CAGR of 2.3% to $862.8 billion through the end of 2030.

As of June 2021, Amazon was the most visited e-commerce site in the United States, recording approximately 2.45 billion monthly visits to Amazon.com. eBay ranked second, with more than 885 million visits per month, while Walmart came in third, surpassing 410 million.

Online retail in a nutshell Online retail in the United States is a multi-billion dollar sector of business-to-consumer transactions where goods and services are sold via the internet. There are several business models at play here with the likes of Walmart, Home Depot, or Target based on brick-and-mortar stores whereas others such as Amazon, eBay, or Etsy are designated online marketplaces. It also includes eBay which allows third-party or private sellers to market their goods.

Online retail sites enable customers to browse through a range of products before placing them into an electronic shopping cart. Unlike their retail counterparts, online retail sites are not bound to a physical location or limited by store opening hours, and as such, have proven themselves immensely convenient for consumers. Apparel & accessories and computers & consumer electronics are some of the most popular e-commerce categories in the United States.

Fast-growing retailers In addition to being the most visited retail site in the United States, Amazon also accounts for the vast majority of e-commerce sales. Over the past few years, Amazon’s retail sales in the United States have grown steadily, however, competition in this space is growing strong. Etsy, followed closely by Walmart and Target, are among the companies that recorded the fastest online retail sales growth in 2021.

In fiscal year 2024, there were approximately 255 million customer visits each week to Walmart stores throughout the world, up from 240 million on a weekly average a year earlier. Walmart Walmart was founded in 1962 by Sam Walton when he and his brother James “Bud” Walton opened the first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Since then, Walmart has grown to become the largest publicly-owned retail company in the world. In 2024, the retailer reached around 648 billion U.S. dollars in revenues, and about 643 billion in net sales. Store count Walmart had a total of 10,616 retail stores throughout the world as of January 31, 2024. The company also operated 368 distribution facilities. In total Walmart operated 10,984 stores. Compared to 2021, there was a significant drop in the number of stores due to the fact that in the first quarter of fiscal 2022, the company terminated its operations in the United Kingdom and Japan. In the U.S. alone the company totaled 4,615 locations, of which 3,560 were supercenter stores and 695 were neighborhood markets.

In March 2024, Amazon.com had approximately 2.2 billion combined web visits, up from 2.1 billion visits in February. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Amazon’s net income amounted to approximately 20 billion U.S. dollars. Online retail in the United States Online retail in the United States is constantly growing. In the third quarter of 2023, e-commerce sales accounted for 15.6 percent of retail sales in the United States. During that quarter, U.S. retail e-commerce sales amounted to over 284 billion U.S. dollars. Amazon is the leading online store in the country, in terms of e-commerce net sales. Amazon.com generated around 130 billion U.S. dollars in online sales in 2022. Walmart ranked as the second-biggest online store, with revenues of 52 billion U.S. dollars. The king of Black Friday In 2023, Amazon ranked as U.S. shoppers' favorite place to go shopping during Black Friday, even surpassing in-store purchasing. Nearly six out of ten consumers chose Amazon as the number one place to go find the best Black Friday deals. Similar findings can be observed in the United Kingdom (UK), where Amazon is also ranked as the preferred Black Friday destination.

In December 2023, Amazon.com was the leading online shopping website in the United States. During the measured period, the sprawling platform accounted for over 45 percent of desktop traffic in the e-commerce and shopping subcategory. In second place on the list was eBay.com, with 9.22 percent of visitors. Walmart ranked third with a bit less than six percent of web traffic. Why customers browse on Amazon The main reason behind the outstanding online traffic to Amazon is user behavior throughout the customer journey. Amazon serves as a search engine for U.S. consumers, with 73 percent browsing it for inspiration and product discovery. Another 65 percent of U.S. shoppers landed on Amazon to look for products and compare products. In turn, Google is left third in the ranking of most used platforms. Generational differences In the beauty segment, the customer journey is more likely to start on Amazon among senior consumers. In the United States, 44 percent of Baby Boomers started their search of beauty products on the marketplace, while only 35 percent of Gen Z consumers reported doing the same.

Amazon.ca is leading the Canadian e-commerce store, with e-commerce net sales of 12.5 billion in 2023 generated in Canada, followed by walmart.ca with 5.2 billion. Third place is taken by costco.ca with revenues of 2.4 million. For an extended ranking as well as rankings in specific product categories, please visit ecommerceDB.com.The eCommerceDB provides detailed information for over 30,000 online stores in more than 50 countries, including detailed revenue analytics, competitor analysis, market development, marketing budget, and interesting KPIs, such as traffic, shipping providers, payment options, social media activity and many more.