Walmart is very well known in the United States as a discount department store retailer, but it has also begun to carve out a share in the online world of shopping through its very own online marketplace at Walmart.com, and it is looking to take on E commerce giants like Amazon and eBay.
And the world’s largest retailer has helped them in their quest to become one of the top E Commerce websites too, and they have already become the second most visited E Commerce website in the United States, with 88 million visitors each month.
To keep pace with the likes of Amazon, Walmart has looked to enhance the availability of products on their online marketplace by adding even more goods – it already offers 11 million different types of goods, but when compared to the 260 million found on Amazon, it certainly pales in comparison.
And while Walmart stores have far less offerings than this (most Super Centers only have around 150,000 types of items), allowing third-party sellers the opportunity to sell on their growing marketplace has provide a very wise move.
Much like Amazon, Walmart does not have to deal with the shipping and warehousing of goods from these types of sellers, allowing them to make a very easy commission on goods sold by any third party seller supported on the Walmart online marketplace.
Now they hope to lure online shoppers away from Amazon and eBay by offering even more on their marketplace. They have recently stated that they are aiming to add more than 1 million items each month here, and with a recently redesigned website, they are pulling out all the stops to attract more buyers.
This looks to be a shrewd move when you consider the forecasts for ecommerce sales in the near future- it is estimated that total sales of this kind could reach a staggering $684 in 2020 alone!
Sales on their marketplace are still well behind that of Amazon, but these are steps they company is looking to make to help close the gap between them and their nearest competitors. Amazon and eBay still remain 1st and 2nd when it comes to online marketplaces, but Walmart are closing the distance in 3rd.
Third party operators look to be the way forward for Walmart’s big move against Amazon and eBay, and while there are no solid numbers on how many Walmart currently operate on their marketplace (they do not make these numbers public), estimations say it could be in the hundreds.
Walmart 100 new sellers were added to the marketplace in May, and another 150 in June, so they are clearly looking to improve their status as an online marketplace in the same league as some of the giants of ecommerce. You can be sure more will be added in the coming months and as the holiday season approaches, this number will likely grow even more.
Will it be enough to truly take on the likes of Amazon and eBay? Only time will tell…
