In late January 2026, Amazon announced the closure of its Amazon Go and Fresh stores to focus on its Whole Foods Market Daily Shop format. However, the biggest news is the ground-breaking of its first XXL store! This is a clear sign of an intensifying battle with Walmart, the rival Amazon dreams of finally overtaking on its home turf: grocery retail. But while this may seem simple in theory, the reality on the ground is quite different.
While Amazon’s dominance in cloud computing and general e-commerce is undisputed, its ambition to conquer the grocery sector across all channels, especially physical retail, remains a work in progress. Despite constant talk of Amazon overtaking Walmart (which is true in terms of total revenue), the battle for the grocery basket is far from won.
Why did this constant comparison begin?
Looking back, nothing suggested these two giants would ever collide.
Walmart, founded in 1962 in rural Arkansas, built its empire on physical dominance and a clear promise: “Everyday Low Price” within reach of every American. Its strength lies in an ultra-efficient supply chain. With over 10,000 stores, Walmart is located within 10 miles of 90% of the U.S. population.
Amazon, launched in 1995 from a Seattle garage, took the opposite approach: no stores, infinite selection, and an obsession with digital convenience. While Walmart optimized the flow of goods to shelves, Amazon optimized the flow of data to doorsteps.
Since the 2000s with the creation of Walmart.com, the two giants have begun to test each other’s ground. If for Walmart, the development of e-commerce was an obligation with increasing digitalization, nothing however pushed Amazon to diversify into food retail. So who started tickling the other? The question is open and free for you to interpret. Whatever the case, the major turning point arrived in 2017 with the acquisition of Whole Foods by Amazon for 13 billion dollars.
Comparative timeline of Walmart and Amazon
Walmart : creation
Walmart : 2,133 stores (including 1,995 Walmart Stores in the US) and start of international expansion with the acquisition of 122 Woolco stores in Canada
Amazon : created under the name Cadabra
Walmart : launch of Walmart.com
Amazon : launch of the first Amazon Marketplace in the United States
Walmart : 6,141 stores
Amazon : creation of Amazon Prime: subscription-based loyalty program
Walmart : 6,679 stores and exits German market
Amazon :
- Launch of AWS (Amazon Web Service): diversification into cloud computing, the most profitable business
- Begins selling groceries on its main website
Amazon : launch of Amazon Fresh
Walmart : launch of Walmart Marketplace: improved seller selection
Walmart : launch of Project Pangaea: technology project aimed at redesigning the website and e-commerce capabilities by implementing new infrastructure (cloud, data center, search engine)
Amazon : acquisition of Kiva Systems: manufacturer of mobile robotic systems for order fulfillment
Walmart : 10,942 stores thanks to its international expansion in Mexico (largest market outside the US) and China
Amazon : launch of Prime Now in the US: ultra-fast delivery service that includes food.
Walmart : acquisition of Jet.com, which wanted to compete with Amazon using a Costco-style e-commerce model + integration of founder Marc Lore as head of e-commerce.
Amazon : launch of Prime Now in France and Spain: fresh produce can be ordered through partners via Amazon
Walmart : 11,695 stores (an all-time high), Walmart begins to stabilize its number of stores and focuses on e-commerce.
Amazon : acquisition of Whole Foods Market: provides access to 460 physical points of sale
Walmart : launch of Walmart Media Group to develop retail media activities (name changed to Walmart Connect in 2021)
Walmart :
- Launch of Walmart+
- Adoption of the Walmart Global Tech identity (merger of several pre-existing technology entities): now manages more than 17 technology hubs worldwide (AI, robotics, supply chain)
Amazon : opening of the first Amazon Fresh in the United States
Walmart : signing of a partnership with Wing for drone delivery
Amazon :
- Announcement of the closure of Amazon Fresh stores (which continue to exist online) and Go
- Launch of the “Big Box” concept in Orland Park
Note: this is not an exhaustive list of the history of the two brands, nor is the list exhaustive for all countries in which the two brands are present.
Amazon declares war: invading "brick & mortar" territory
If in 2007 Amazon launched Amazon Fresh, the true turning point took place in 2017 with the buyout of Whole Foods. Amazon then officially entered Walmart’s garden: food in physical networks. However, to differentiate itself, it chose the bias of innovation. The objective? To remove customer irritants of classic food retail thanks to technology.
Amazon then tried to “disrupt” the physical store with:
- Amazon Go: serves as a showcase for its “Just Walk Out” technology. The goal was to completely eliminate the checkout process. Customers identify themselves at the entrance, take their items, and leave, with payment automated by a complex system of cameras and sensors. These stores acted as innovation hubs for testing technological solutions (such as Amazon One palm recognition).
- Amazon Fresh : the ambition was to tackle the perishable goods market, an area where Walmart is largely dominant. The goal? To use these stores to understand local shopping habits and the complex management of fresh produce inventory (multiple temperatures, deli, etc.) and find a scalable model.
The goal was clear: to capture the “shopping basket of every American,” that regular weekly flow of purchases that Walmart dominates without equal.
What if Walmart had transformed more easily than Amazon?
Against all odds, the most accomplished transformation may not be that of the digital pure-player. By comparing Amazon and Walmart on their common ground, the global retail giant has demonstrated faster resilience. Walmart has not only successfully navigated its digital pivot (it is even deploying conversational AI agents today) but, more importantly, has managed to transform its internal organization to foster continuous innovation.
The conclusion in 2026 is, moreover, undeniable and it is formulated by Amazon itself. Despite ‘encouraging signs,’ the firm had to admit that it had not yet succeeded in creating a ‘truly distinctive customer experience with the appropriate economic model‘ for its Fresh and Go banners. This lack of large-scale profitability led to a radical decision: the closure of numerous points of sale and the conversion of several sites into Whole Foods Market stores.
This difficulty underscores a fundamental truth on the ground: grocery retail cannot be improvised. Where Amazon long believed that technology (AI and cameras) would be enough to compensate for a lack of industry expertise, Walmart understood that profitability is won through the precise optimization of flows and workload. Today, Walmart dominates online grocery with more than 30% market share, while Amazon retreats to its premium stronghold, Whole Foods, having failed to crack the code of mass retail.
Amazon has not said its last word with its new XXL store
Amazon has not said its last word. In January 2026, the company is taking on a major challenge: opening an XXL store of 21,367 m² (approx. 230,000 sq. ft.) in Orland Park, near Chicago. To give you an idea of the scale, this colossus exceeds the surface area of a classic Walmart by nearly 5,000 m². The objective is crystal clear: to disrupt the ‘Supercenter’ model of its historical rival, while continuing to roll out its local convenience formats with Whole Foods Market Daily Shop.
A hybrid and intelligent model
This store doesn’t just sell; it reinvents the shopping journey. The concept combines a traditional sales floor with an integrated order fulfillment center. Customers are spoiled for choice:
- The classic journey: shopping the aisles for fresh and dry goods.
- The “phygital” experience: ordering additional items via an app or kiosk, then picking them up at the end of the store tour thanks to the adjacent warehouse. The desire to hide order preparation within the store stands in direct opposition to Walmart, whose aisles are sometimes cluttered with picking carts.
- Optimized drive-thru: 100% online orders have a dedicated entrance to avoid congesting physical foot traffic.
Project Context
This large-scale project is part of a U.S. market where physical stores still dominate 85% of grocery sales. While Amazon recently surpassed Walmart in overall revenue, this supremacy relies heavily on its cloud and data activities. When isolating retail alone, the trend reverses: Walmart remains the undisputed leader with a 21% market share. It has even overtaken Amazon in online grocery market share, thanks to its curbside pickup and rapid delivery services powered by its 4,600 U.S. stores. So, if Amazon wants to open more Big-Box locations and encourage consumers to change their shopping habits, they are going to have to bring their A-game!
Indicator (2025 Data) | Walmart | Amazon | Primary Source |
Total Revenue | $713.2 Billion | $716,9 Billion | Annual Reports ($10$-K) |
Revenue excluding Cloud / Data | $713.2 Billion | $588.2 Billion | Calculated (Total Revenue – AWS) |
Physical grocery retail revenue | ~$255 Billion | $22,6 Billion | Estimations Grocery Dive / YCharts |
E-commerce grocery retail revenue | ~$72 Billion | ~$40,5 Billion | Coresight Research 2025 |
Physical grocery market share | 21,0 % | 1,6 % | Modern Retail / Bloomberg |
E-commerce grocery market share | 32,0 % | 22,0 % | Brick Meets Click / Oberlo |
In my extensive reading, the internal labor organization within this ‘Big-Box’ is not addressed. Yet, for Amazon, the transition from warehouse or convenience formats to the ‘supercenter’ concept represents a leap into the unknown. Managing a local convenience store or a fulfillment center is, in fact, nothing like managing thousands of square meters.
The profitability of this format will therefore depend on its ability to equip managers with real-time management tools. Without anticipation and precise orchestration of workload, task prioritization, and daily monitoring of labor occupancy rates, this giant store could become a true financial sinkhole.
In summary: the battle of bricks and data
The Amazon-Walmart rivalry in 2026 proves one thing: technology is no substitute for industry expertise. While Amazon revolutionized e-commerce, it has spent the last ten years struggling to master the rules of mass-market physical retail, meanwhile, Walmart has successfully digitized its logistical empire.
Amazon’s retreat to Whole Foods and its gamble on the new “XXL” format show that the Seattle giant is still searching for the recipe for in-store profitability. To dethrone Walmart, Amazon must no longer be just a champion of data; it must become a master of on-the-ground execution. The game is far from over, but for now, the home-field advantage remains with Arkansas.
Sources walmart vs. amazon :
https://www.businessinsider.com/iamazon-fix-groceries-beat-walmart-2026-1
https://www.thestreet.com/retail/amazon-targets-walmart-crown-in-883-billion-grocery-battle
https://www.lemoci.com/e-commerce-walmart-se-dote-dune-place-de-marche-en-ligne/
https://www.channable.com/blog/walmart-marketplace-vs-amazon
https://www.supermarketnews.com/company-news/amazon-tests-out-big-box-retail
https://www.wsj.com/business/retail/amazon-orland-park-illinois-opening-
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/amazon-fresh-go-stores-closing-expanding-whole-foods
https://www.lesechos.fr/2015/07/jetcom-le-site-qui-se-veut-le-costco-de-le-commerce-251639
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart
