Big Retail Gets Bigger as Smaller Players Struggle: Walmart, Amazon and Costco are growing faster than the rest of retailers

By Free Republic | Created at 2025-01-06 03:42:14 | Updated at 2025-01-07 16:33:06 1 day ago

Big Retail Gets Bigger as Smaller Players Struggle: Walmart, Amazon and Costco are growing faster than the rest of retailers
Wall Street Journal ^ | 01/05/2025

Posted on 01/05/2025 7:19:22 PM PST by SeekAndFind

Big retailers already dominate Americans’ lives. Their grasp on consumers is only getting stronger.

The three biggest retailers by revenue in the U.S.— Costco , Walmart and Amazon AMZN — accounted for about 11% of total retail sales back in 2014, based on their reported figures measured against national retail sales data from the Commerce Department.

Their share of the market has been growing since then. In their last three reported quarters, the behemoths selling everything from groceries to appliances made up about 17% of retail sales and roughly 57% of retail sales growth over that period.

Supermarkets have been a chronic casualty of the big retailers’ rise. Grocery stores accounted for about two-thirds of food-at-home spending in the U.S. in 2000, but their share shrank to 54% in 2023, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Over the same period, warehouse clubs and supercenters such as Costco and Walmart nearly doubled their market share to 23%. Amazon hasn’t grown its share of the grocery market much, but it captures a sizable share of everything else: About three-fourths of U.S. households have Amazon Prime, its paid membership program, according to a 2024 survey from Evercore.

Among some recent casualties are dollar stores, which industry analysts say are losing share to Walmart. The big-box retailer has drawn low-income consumers with a membership program that is half-price for those on government assistance. More than a fifth of Walmart+ members are on food stamps, according to survey results from Evercore. On its December earnings call, Dollar General said it was testing out same-day home delivery from its stores—a move that looks like an effort to play catch-up with Walmart.

(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...

TOPICS: Business/Economy; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: amazon; costco; retail; walmart

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1 posted on 01/05/2025 7:19:22 PM PST by SeekAndFind

To: SeekAndFind

Some well-known retail chains have filed for bankruptcy over the past few months, including Big Lots, the Container Store and Party City. It is difficult to draw a straight line between their demise and big retailers’ ascendance, but consumers these days can probably find a version of what these specialty retailers used to offer while browsing the aisles—both online and physical—of Walmart, Amazon and the like.

2 posted on 01/05/2025 7:19:50 PM PST by SeekAndFind

To: SeekAndFind

And their prices are still going up with selection going down.
Their quality control is bad too.
People have been telling me they’re getting food poisoning-gut aches, vomiting and diarrhea.

3 posted on 01/05/2025 7:29:52 PM PST by doc maverick

To: SeekAndFind

My wife and I shop online quite a bit. It is simple, no crowds to deal with and we get it delivered to the front door. I have a Prime account that with the free shipping more than pays for itself. Wife says “we are getting low on TP or paper towels”, I just click on Amazon and order a case of 36 rolls and it’s cheaper than going to the store.

4 posted on 01/05/2025 7:33:14 PM PST by eastforker (All in, I'm all Trump,what you got!)

To: SeekAndFind

“About three-fourths of U.S. households have Amazon Prime”

Wow, I had no idea Prime had gotten that big. That’s enormous. And what a brilliant customer retention strategy.

131 million households x 0.75 x $139/year = $14.5 BILLION/year.

Just from “membership.” Of course, Amazon has to pay for all that “free” shipping you get with Prime. We’ve been “Prime” members since Day One when it was introduced in 2005 as a two-day delivery service.

I think of all the hours I didn’t have to spend in the car going from retailer to retailer to find something. It paid for itself in the hours I wasn’t in the car or going into stores.

5 posted on 01/05/2025 7:40:04 PM PST by ProtectOurFreedom (Marxism is a politics for the ugly, unwanted, uneducated, unhealthy, and insane.)

To: SeekAndFind

This is what is known as the Pareto distribution.

Once something reaches a certain size it will continue to grow.

If this is left alone at some point it becomes too big to support it's self and collapses in on it's self to be followed by something new that will grow until it take's the place of the first item.

The problem is government interference where they give certain companies special privileges that their competitors do not have. Looking at you Jeff.

6 posted on 01/05/2025 7:40:04 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)

To: ProtectOurFreedom

Of course, Amazon has to pay for all that “free” shipping you get with Prime.

No, actually your fellow citizens pay for all that "free shipping".

7 posted on 01/05/2025 7:41:47 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)

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