Amazon Retail Sales Surpass Walmart
- Paul Thurrott
- Aug 17, 2021
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Customers spent more money at Amazon in the past 12 months than they did at Walmart, making it the world’s largest retailer outside of China.
That’s according to data from Wall Street estimates compiled by the financial research firm FactSet and first reported by The New York Times. According to the estimates, Amazon customers spent over $610 billion in the past year, compared to $566 billion for Walmart.
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But neither company is the world’s largest retailer. Instead, that title goes to Alibaba, the Chinese online giant. Neither Amazon nor Walmart has much of a foothold in the world’s largest consumer market.
This milestone is important, regardless, of course. Despite mounting regulatory pressure, especially in the United States, and the exit of founder Jeff Bezos from the CEO role this year, Amazon has been surging, thanks in part to the new COVID economy. The firm reported $113.1 billion in revenues in the most recent quarter, easily beating out other Big Tech competitors like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. And its 27 percent year-over-year growth is astonishing for a company of this size.
Another way to look at this milestone is revenue growth in dollars. Walmart’s revenues grew by $24 billion in the past year, but Amazon’s grew by almost $200 billion. Or consider this bit of historical trivia: When Walmart became the world’s biggest retailer outside of China, it knocked Sears out of the top spot. Right. Sears.