Walmart Overtakes Apple to Become Third Largest Online Retailer in U.S.

Saturday November 17, 2018 9:02 AM PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple has ceded its position to Walmart as the third largest online retailer in the U.S., according to a new report out this week (via TechCrunch).

Research provider eMarketer Retail calculates that Walmart is set to capture 4 percent of all online retail spending in 2018, up from 3.3 percent the previous year, while Apple will claim a 3.9 percent share, up from 3.8 percent in 2017.


Walmart, which includes Sam's Club and Jet.com, will see its sales total $20.91 billion by the end of the year, thanks to a 39.4 percent increase in e-commerce. In contrast, Apple's online sales will grow by 18 percent this year, a slowdown attributed to declining domestic smartphone sales.
Importantly, Walmart has one of the fastest growing ecommerce businesses. This year, its online sales will grow 39.4%. Wayfair, an online-only retailer, beats it slightly with a 40.1% growth rate. Meanwhile, Apple will grow just over 18% this year—less than last year— as domestic sales for smartphones and other consumer electronic devices begin to slow down. Its ecommerce share will remain virtually unchanged at 3.9% this year.
Both companies still trail first-placed Amazon, which is set to command a whopping 48 percent share of all e-commerce sales, up from 43.1 percent the previous year. Amazon will take in more than $252.10 billion domestically this year, according to eMarketer. eBay meanwhile remains in second place, with a 7.2 percent share of all online retail sales, down from 7.6 percent.

Tags: retail, Walmart
68 comments


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camperboy
10 months ago
I think Apple need more overpriced stuff, higher price for old hardware etc. By increasing the price Apple will back on the 1st place again.

But seriously, maybe people finally understood the hardware what Apple offer is not worth the price.
Rating: 22 Votes
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scrapesleon
10 months ago
Apple need a change in leadership
Rating: 12 Votes
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Dustin Lenzz
10 months ago

Apple need a change in leadership

...???...
Yeah, all right, okay...
Like who then, John Sculley?? Wonder what he’s doing now?? Or maybe Gil Amelio, lol...
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
X--X
10 months ago

Apple need a change in leadership


...???...
Yeah, all right, okay...
Like who then, John Sculley??


John Sculley did exactly the same as Tim Cook is doing.

MAXIMIZING profits, HUGE stock gains, but completely ignoring any innovation and running Apple without any vision at all, especially in terms of software. Sorry but that is the truth.

Let's take a look at how SCULLEY did when Jobs left Apple in the 80s


Rating: 11 Votes
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Scottsoapbox
10 months ago
Walmart has gotten serious about changing for the future. Pushing online and getting into grocery delivery. They won't concede to Amazon or become the next Sears.
Rating: 11 Votes
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entropys
10 months ago
Well at last make prices within the ball park of competitor products. I can’t recmmend Apple at these prices, no matter how pretty.
Rating: 10 Votes
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sblemmy
10 months ago

John Sculley did exactly the same as Tim Cook is doing.

MAXIMIZING profits, HUGE stock gains, but completely ignoring any innovation and running Apple without any vision at all, especially in terms of software. Sorry but that is the truth.


Tim Cook's been pretty clear about his vision for Apple: stabilize revenue by decreasing reliance on "blockbuster" products and increasing revenue from services. Apple's also pushing consumer technology in the healthcare space.

To this end, we've gotten some interesting software/hardware combinations:

TouchID/FaceID for Apple Pay
Apple Music and HomePod
Apple Watch w/ heart rate monitoring, fall detection, and soon ECG.

We can argue about the varying degree of success Apple has had in these (and other of) TC's initiatives, but the vision is clearly there.
Rating: 10 Votes
Avatar
fairuz
10 months ago

I think Apple need more overpriced stuff, higher price for old hardware etc. By increasing the price Apple will back on the 1st place again.

But seriously, maybe people finally understood the hardware what Apple offer is not worth the price.

Apple's online sales market share went up, not down. Walmart's just went up more.
[doublepost=1542482514][/doublepost]

Well at last make prices within the ball park of competitor products. I can’t recmmend Apple at these prices, no matter how pretty.

How about the competitors make their products nicer at the same price?
Rating: 8 Votes
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brinary001
10 months ago
I mean it's easy for companies that sell anything and everything (Walmart, eBay, Amazon) to lead the pack, but for Apple to even be on there at all given that they only sell their own rather pricey devices is impressive.
Rating: 7 Votes
Avatar
Dustin Lenzz
10 months ago

John Sculley did exactly the same as Tim Cook is doing.

MAXIMIZING profits, HUGE stock gains, but completely ignoring any innovation and running Apple without any vision at all, especially in terms of software. Sorry but that is the truth.

Let's take a look at how SCULLEY did when Jobs left Apple in the 80s


So... Apple supposedly doesn’t ‘innovate’ every millisecond, yet they spent $14.2 Billion on R&D for the 2018 fiscal year... Must have been on how to raise prices across the board while offering only ‘incremental’ upgrades...
I mean, it’s not like the design language of the iPhone X/XS/XS Max hasn’t been utilized :cough:copied:cough: by ANY of their competitors, while also not offering their versions of the Face ID/TrueDepth camera system...
https://www.macrumors.com/2018/11/05/apple-2018-form-10-k-highlights/
Rating: 6 Votes
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