When you’re weighing selling on Walmart vs Amazon, you’re choosing between massive scale and massive opportunity. Amazon gives you incredible reach but throws you into a shark tank of competition. Walmart, on the other hand, is a less crowded playground with a rapidly growing online presence.
The right choice really boils down to your product, where your business is right now, and what your growth strategy looks like.
Walmart vs Amazon: The Key Differences for Sellers
Picking a marketplace isn’t just about finding the biggest audience; it’s about finding the right home for your brand. Amazon is the undisputed giant, no question. But Walmart is a serious challenger, growing fast and offering a completely different set of advantages.
This guide gets straight to the practical details. We’ll lay out the customer bases, fee structures, competition levels, and fulfillment networks side-by-side so you can see exactly which platform fits your products and goals.
Quick Look: Amazon vs Walmart for Sellers
To kick things off, let’s zoom out and look at the big picture. They’re both household names, but for third-party sellers, their online marketplaces are worlds apart. This table gives you a quick snapshot of the core differences.
| Feature | Amazon | Walmart Marketplace |
|---|---|---|
| Market Share (US) | Dominant (~38%) | Growing (~6.4%) |
| Seller Competition | Extremely High | Lower, but Increasing |
| Primary Audience | Prime members, convenience-focused | Value-conscious, omnichannel shoppers |
| Monthly Seller Fee | $39.99 (Professional Plan) | $0 |
| Fulfillment Service | Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) | Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) |
Think of this as your starting point. Amazon’s monthly fee and fierce competition are balanced by its enormous market share, while Walmart’s lack of a monthly fee and lower competition make it an attractive, lower-risk option for many sellers.
Scale and Market Position
In 2025, Amazon still reigns supreme, holding about 38% of the US online retail market. Walmart sits at 6.4%, but that number doesn’t tell the whole story. Walmart is growing its online marketplace at an incredible clip by using its secret weapon: a huge network of over 7,000 physical stores for things like curbside pickup. This omnichannel strategy is its key differentiator.
Amazon’s $638 billion in 2024 revenue is powered by more than 9.7 million sellers worldwide, with third-party sellers making up over 60% of all sales. Meanwhile, Walmart is strategically using its $648 billion in global revenue to merge its physical and digital operations. This gives it a serious edge in categories like groceries, where it already owns 31.6% of the U.S. online market. You can find out more about these marketplace statistics to dig deeper.
This has created two very different ecosystems. Amazon offers unmatched scale with a catalog of over 350 million products. Walmart, in contrast, is all about a powerful blend of online convenience and in-store integration. Our goal here is to give you a solid framework for deciding whether Amazon’s sheer size or Walmart’s growing, integrated strength is the smarter bet for your business right now.
Audience and Competition on Each Platform
Let’s get into the numbers that really matter for your business. When you’re weighing Walmart vs. Amazon, it’s not just about the raw audience size. It’s about the kind of competition you’ll be up against trying to reach them.
Amazon’s audience is absolutely massive, but so is the army of sellers all fighting for the same eyeballs. That saturation creates a hyper-competitive pressure cooker where just getting noticed is a daily battle.
Amazon: The Land of Opportunity and Intense Rivalry
Think of Amazon as a bustling metropolis like New York City. The potential rewards are astronomical, but the cost of entry (and survival) is steep. You aren’t just competing with other third-party sellers; you’re fighting for every single inch of digital shelf space.
- Massive Customer Base: Amazon’s reach is undeniable, with a global user base projected to hit around 321 million people in 2025. Here in the U.S., it has over 208 million users, making it the default shopping app for a huge slice of the population.
- Fierce Competition: This huge audience has attracted an equally huge crowd of sellers. You’re going head-to-head with roughly 1.9 million active third-party sellers in the U.S. alone. This translates directly to higher ad costs, razor-thin margins, and a constant need to defend your product rankings.
Amazon’s staggering reach gives your product a potentially huge audience, but the extreme competition can feel like shouting into a hurricane. Getting initial traction for a new product often requires a serious ad budget and a sophisticated launch strategy.
This cutthroat environment hits your bottom line hard. Sky-high ad costs for popular keywords can demolish your profits, and a single poorly timed negative review can send your ranking into a nosedive. For new sellers, it can be a brutal environment to break into without a solid game plan and deep pockets.
Walmart: A Growing Frontier with Less Traffic
If Amazon is a crowded city, think of Walmart Marketplace as a boomtown on the frontier. The population is smaller for now, but there’s a lot more open space to build your brand and make a name for yourself. This presents a different, and for some, a better kind of opportunity.
Walmart’s online marketplace is expanding at a breakneck pace, but it still has a fraction of the sellers that Amazon does. This lower saturation is its single biggest advantage for new and growing brands.
- Fewer Competitors: With a much smaller seller pool, it’s just plain easier to get your products noticed. The seller-to-shopper ratio is far more favorable, meaning your listings have a real shot at being seen without a monster ad spend.
- Value-Focused Shoppers: Walmart’s core customer is famously looking for a good deal. They are often shopping for everyday essentials, groceries, and budget-friendly items. If your product aligns with this “everyday low price” philosophy, you’ll find a very receptive audience.
This less-crowded landscape means launching a new product isn’t nearly as much of an uphill climb. You can often get organic visibility much faster and with a leaner marketing budget compared to the dogfight for page one on Amazon.
Matching Your Product to the Right Shopper
Understanding the typical shopper on each platform is vital. Amazon’s Prime members are conditioned to expect ultimate convenience and lightning-fast shipping, often prioritizing speed over the absolute lowest price. They’re searching for everything under the sun, from high-end electronics to obscure hobbyist supplies.
In contrast, the Walmart shopper is often on a mission for value. They might be doing their weekly grocery run online and tossing other household items into their virtual cart. This mindset makes Walmart an ideal platform for sellers in categories like:
- Home goods and kitchenware
- Patio and garden supplies
- Toys and baby products
- Automotive parts and accessories
Ultimately, the choice comes down to your brand’s strategy and resources. Do you have the budget and the grit to duke it out in Amazon’s massive, mature market? Or is your product a better fit for Walmart’s growing, value-focused ecosystem where you can carve out a profitable niche more easily? Matching your product to the right audience is the first, and most important, step.
Comparing Seller Fees and Real Profit Margins
Nothing hits your bottom line harder than platform fees. When you’re looking at Walmart vs Amazon, it’s easy to get lost in a sea of percentages and hidden costs. Your real profit margin is what’s left after every single fee is accounted for, so let’s break down exactly what you’ll be paying.
On the surface, both charge referral fees, basically a commission on each sale. But that’s where the similarities end. Amazon’s fee structure is famously complex, with multiple layers that can quickly eat into your profits if you aren’t paying close attention.
Amazon Fee Structure: A Layered Approach
Selling on Amazon means budgeting for a lot more than just a simple sales commission. Their model includes several distinct costs that add up fast.
- Professional Seller Plan: First off, if you’re serious about selling, you’ll need the Professional plan. That’s a fixed cost of $39.99 per month, whether you sell one item or a thousand.
- Referral Fees: This is the big one. For most product categories, Amazon takes a 15% cut of the total sale price. Some categories are lower, but it’s a big chunk of your revenue right off the bat.
- FBA Fees: If you use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), and most successful sellers do, you’re also paying for storage, picking, packing, and shipping. These fees have been steadily climbing, with recent hikes in weight handling and storage costs, especially during peak seasons.
These costs compound, meaning a single sale gets hit with multiple fees. This complexity is why accurately calculating your true profit margin on Amazon is such a challenge and creates a higher barrier to entry compared to Walmart’s simpler model.
Walmart Fee Structure: Simple and Direct
Walmart Marketplace has positioned itself as the straightforward, more transparent alternative. Their fee structure is one of their biggest selling points, especially for new and growing sellers.
The single biggest difference? Walmart does not charge a monthly subscription fee. This is a huge win for sellers just starting out or those with lower sales volume. You only pay when you make a sale.
Walmart’s fee structure is refreshingly straightforward. By dropping monthly subscription fees, they offer a lower-risk entry point for sellers who want to test the waters or diversify their sales channels without committing to fixed overhead costs.
Like Amazon, Walmart charges referral fees that vary by category, but they often come in slightly lower, typically between 8% and 15%. If you use Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), you’ll also pay for fulfillment and storage, but these rates are often more competitive than Amazon’s. This simplicity makes it much easier to predict your profitability on a per-unit basis.
This infographic breaks down the key cost differences at a glance.
The visual makes it clear: Walmart’s lack of a monthly fee and competitive referral rates create immediate cost savings for sellers right out of the gate.
Cost Breakdown Selling a $30 Product
Theory is one thing, but let’s put this into practice with a real-world example. Imagine you’re selling a small kitchen gadget for $30 on both platforms and using their fulfillment services.
| Cost Item | Amazon (FBA) | Walmart (WFS) |
|---|---|---|
| Sale Price | $30.00 | $30.00 |
| Referral Fee (15%) | -$4.50 | -$4.50 |
| Fulfillment Fee | -$5.50 | -$4.75 |
| Monthly Fee (Pro-rated) | Varies (e.g., -$0.40) | $0.00 |
| Net Profit (per unit) | $19.60 | $20.75 |
In this scenario, you’d pocket $1.15 more per sale on Walmart. While that might not seem like much, it adds up quickly. That’s an extra $1,150 in pure profit for every 1,000 units sold. This is the kind of math that can make or break a business, especially for products with tighter margins. When you’re weighing Walmart vs Amazon, these seemingly small fee differences are critical to your long-term success.
Fulfillment and Logistics FBA vs WFS Compared
Getting your products into a customer’s hands is where the rubber meets the road. Both Amazon and Walmart have invested billions into building out incredible fulfillment networks, but they went about it in completely different ways. Your choice between Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS) will affect your costs, day-to-day operations, and even how shoppers see your brand.
Amazon FBA is the king of the hill for a reason. It’s a finely tuned machine that delivers the Prime-badged shipping experience millions of shoppers not only want but expect. But that world-class service comes with a price, and sellers often find themselves navigating a maze of strict inventory rules and fees that seem to creep up every year.
Walmart’s WFS is the challenger, offering a powerful and refreshingly straightforward alternative. It matches the crucial two-day shipping promise, but typically with a simpler, more predictable fee structure. What really sets WFS apart, though, is how it’s built on Walmart’s enormous physical retail footprint, a strategic advantage that FBA simply can’t replicate.
Delivery Speed and Customer Expectations
When it comes to speed, FBA and WFS are playing the same game: get it there fast. But the badge on the box means different things to different shoppers.
- Amazon FBA: This is the gold standard. FBA is what gets you the coveted Prime badge, giving you access to Amazon’s most loyal customers who see two-day (and increasingly, same-day) shipping as a given. It’s a massive conversion driver, no question. The trade-off? You have to play by Amazon’s rules, and meeting their stringent inventory and performance metrics to keep that Prime eligibility is a constant battle.
- Walmart WFS: WFS delivers on the modern e-commerce promise with guaranteed two-day shipping across the continental U.S. This gets your listings the “Fulfilled by Walmart” tag, which builds trust and signals a reliable experience. While it doesn’t have the same brand cachet as Prime just yet, it absolutely meets the expectations of today’s online shopper.
Cost Structure and Storage Fees
This is where things get interesting and where your profit margins are truly made or lost. FBA’s fee structure is notoriously complex, while WFS keeps things much simpler.
With FBA, you’re paying for everything. There are monthly storage fees that go up during Q4, pick and pack fees, fees based on weight and dimensions, and the dreaded long-term storage penalties for any inventory that doesn’t move quickly enough. These costs can pile up and catch even experienced sellers by surprise if they aren’t paying close attention.
WFS, on the other hand, rolls its fulfillment and storage costs into a single fee based on your item’s weight. That’s it. This clarity makes it incredibly easy to forecast your costs per unit and manage your bottom line without worrying about surprise charges. For sellers with seasonal products, the WFS model can be a game-changer.
The core difference isn’t just about the dollar amount; it’s about predictability. WFS gives sellers a clearer, more stable cost structure, while FBA requires constant monitoring to avoid unexpected fees that can sink your profits.
The Omnichannel Advantage of WFS
Here’s Walmart’s ace in the hole. By integrating its massive network of physical stores into its e-commerce operations, Walmart has created a logistics and customer service engine that Amazon, as a digital-first company, can’t match.
In 2025, Walmart is using its 4,600+ U.S. stores as mini-distribution hubs, enabling faster local delivery and offering incredibly convenient return options. This omnichannel strategy is a huge win for sellers. A customer can buy your product online and, if needed, return it to their local Walmart store, a seamless experience that builds immense customer loyalty. This integration is a major factor behind Walmart’s explosive e-commerce growth, a trend you can explore further on the Incrementum Digital blog.
This brick-and-mortar presence also opens up unique opportunities for sellers down the line. The choice between FBA and WFS ultimately comes down to a strategic decision: do you want the unmatched reach of Amazon’s Prime ecosystem, or do you want the cost-effective, predictable, and powerful omnichannel model that WFS offers?
Advertising Tools and Marketing Opportunities
Getting your product listed is one thing; getting it in front of actual shoppers is another battle entirely. When it comes to advertising, the ecosystems on Amazon and Walmart feel like they’re from different planets. Your choice here will make or break your budget, strategy, and return on ad spend (ROAS).
Amazon Advertising is a mature, powerful, and frankly, an incredibly complex machine. It’s been the top dog in marketplace advertising for years, and it absolutely shows. Sellers get a sophisticated suite of tools, like Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display, backed by deep targeting options and a mountain of data.
But all that maturity comes with a hefty price tag. The platform is crowded and expensive. For competitive keywords, it’s not unusual to see the average cost-per-click (CPC) soar past several dollars. If you’re a new seller diving in without a solid strategy and a healthy budget, it can feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle from day one.
The Amazon Advertising Powerhouse
Amazon gives you granular control over your campaigns, which is both a blessing and a curse. You can target customers with surgical precision, but the learning curve is steep.
- Sponsored Products: These are your bread-and-butter ads, popping up in search results and on product detail pages. They are essential for driving immediate traffic and sales.
- Sponsored Brands: Perfect for building brand awareness, these banner-style ads feature your logo, a custom headline, and several products right at the top of search results.
- Sponsored Display: This is your retargeting tool. It lets you follow shoppers who’ve viewed your products (or similar ones) both on and off Amazon.
Amazon’s ad platform is a beast, powerful, but unforgiving. It demands a serious investment in both time and money. A poorly managed campaign can torch your entire budget in a matter of hours with almost nothing to show for it.
Success on Amazon isn’t just about “running ads.” It’s about managing a complex digital marketing channel that requires a deep understanding of campaign structures, keyword research, and bid management. If you want to get into the details on this, our guide on Amazon PPC Advertising Services offers more specialized insights.
Walmart Connect: A Simpler, Cheaper Alternative
In the other corner, you have Walmart Connect, the fast-growing challenger. The experience is simpler, the field is less saturated, and most importantly, it’s often much, much cheaper.
While it doesn’t have the same feature depth as Amazon just yet, it gives you the core tools you need to get your products noticed. The main ad types are Sponsored Products and Search Brand Amplifier, which work in a very similar way to Amazon’s Sponsored Products and Brands.
The real draw here is the cost. With far fewer sellers fighting for ad space, CPCs are typically much lower. Based on recent data, Walmart CPCs can hover between $0.30 to $1.50. Compare that to the $0.15 to $6.00 (and sometimes much more) you might pay on Amazon for similar keywords, and the difference is stark.
This lower barrier to entry makes Walmart a fantastic place for brands to build momentum. You can often hit a higher ROAS with a smaller budget, making it an ideal testing ground for new products or for sellers looking to diversify away from the hyper-competitive Amazon arena.
So, what’s the right move? It all comes down to your goals and resources. Amazon offers unmatched reach, but it comes at a high cost and complexity. Walmart gives you a more accessible and cost-effective path to driving traffic, making it a seriously smart play for any seller focused on maximizing profit margins.
So, Which Platform Is Right for Your Brand?
After weighing all the pros and cons, what’s the final call in the Walmart vs. Amazon showdown? The truth is, there’s no single answer. The “best” platform is the one that fits your business model, your product line, and your current growth stage like a glove.
Instead of a generic list, let’s look at this through the lens of a few common seller types. See which one sounds like you, it’ll give you a pretty clear idea of where to start.
The New Seller with a Unique Product
Just starting out? You’ve got a killer product but maybe not a massive war chest for advertising. Your main challenge is getting noticed without breaking the bank.
In this scenario, Walmart is almost certainly the smarter play.
The simple fact is, the competition is just so much lower. It’s actually realistic to get your product on the first page of search results without dumping a fortune into ads. Try that on Amazon, and you’ll burn through your launch budget just trying to get a few eyeballs. Walmart gives a great product the breathing room to gain traction on its own merits.
The Established Brand Chasing Maximum Volume
On the other hand, maybe you’re an established brand with a deep product catalog and a logistics operation that runs like a well-oiled machine. Your number one goal is simple: reach the most customers and move the most units.
For you, Amazon is the undisputed heavyweight champion.
Its customer base of over 200 million Prime members in the U.S. alone is a force of nature. The sheer scale means your sales potential is on another level. You’ve got the capital to play the advertising game and the operational maturity to handle the complexities of FBA. When it comes to pure, unadulterated reach, Amazon is still king.
Your decision isn’t about which platform is “better,” but which one is better for you, right now. Amazon offers scale, while Walmart offers opportunity. The key is aligning the platform’s strengths with your business’s immediate needs and long-term goals.
The Seller of Everyday Essentials or Groceries
Are you in the business of selling things people buy over and over again, groceries, cleaning supplies, pet food, that sort of thing? Is your brand all about value and convenience for the daily grind?
This is where Walmart’s omnichannel muscle really flexes.
Walmart’s entire identity is built around being the go-to for household staples, and that mindset carries over to its online marketplace. More importantly, the seamless link between online shopping and in-store pickup and returns is a huge advantage that shoppers in these categories love. It’s a strategic edge that Amazon, for all its strengths, just can’t match.
Making the Call for Your Business
Choosing between these two giants isn’t about picking a winner. It’s a strategic move based on where you are today.
- If you need lower competition and a clearer path to profitability, start with Walmart.
- If your top priority is massive reach and you have the budget to fight for it, Amazon is your platform.
- If you sell value-driven, consumable goods, Walmart’s audience is practically built for you.
Down the road, the smartest strategy is often to sell on both. But by launching on the platform that aligns with your current reality, you give yourself a much stronger foundation for success. Getting your products seen is the first step, and a clear understanding of Amazon SEO Services can be a critical advantage on either platform.
Frequently Asked Questions
When you’re weighing Walmart against Amazon, a few key questions always seem to pop up. Let’s get you some straight answers based on what we see sellers struggle with every day.
Can I Start Selling on Both Platforms at the Same Time?
Technically, yes, you can. And for established brands, being on both is often the end goal. But if you’re just starting out, I’d strongly advise against it.
Trying to master two completely different ecosystems, ad platforms, and fulfillment systems all at once is a classic recipe for burnout. You’ll stretch your resources, time, and sanity way too thin. A much smarter move is to launch on one platform first. Get your operations dialed in, figure out your cash flow, and build some real momentum. Once you have a stable, profitable machine running, you can expand to the other marketplace from a position of strength, not desperation.
Which Platform Is Easier to Get Started On?
For most new sellers, Walmart has a lower barrier to entry for a couple of big reasons. First off, there’s no monthly subscription fee. That’s a huge win when you’re bootstrapping and every dollar counts. You only pay a referral fee when you actually sell something.
Second, while Walmart’s seller approval process is more thorough, it’s designed that way to keep the marketplace from becoming oversaturated. Once you’re in, you’re facing far less competition out of the gate. Amazon’s setup might be faster, but the second you’re live, you’re thrown into an ocean with millions of other sellers. It’s incredibly difficult to get noticed without a hefty ad budget from day one.
How Do I Manage Inventory if I Sell on Both?
Juggling inventory across two platforms used to be a massive operational headache, but it’s gotten a lot easier. The only sane way to do it is with a centralized inventory management system. Tools like ChannelEngine or similar multichannel software sync your stock levels in real time, which is critical for preventing overselling and stockouts.
Here’s the real game-changer: Walmart now officially allows sellers to use Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) to ship Walmart orders. This is huge. It means you can store all your inventory in Amazon’s FBA warehouses and use it to fulfill orders from both marketplaces.
This hybrid approach simplifies your logistics immensely. You no longer have to split your inventory between FBA and WFS, which is a major win for both operational efficiency and cash flow. It makes running a multi-platform strategy far more manageable for just about any seller.
