Walmart just proved it has a huge advantage over Amazon (WMT)

pulse

October 9, 2017 5:02 PM

Leveraging its huge network of stores, Walmart is flexing its muscles as the fight with Amazon escalates.

Walmart is throwing its weight around.

The largest retailer in the US is leveraging its substantial store footprint to make inroads against its online competitors.

Its plan to become an "omnichannel" comes into clear focus with its new Mobile Express Return initiative, which aims to blend online and offline into one seamless experience for the customer by letting them skip the regular customer-service line to return items bought online.

As Walmart seeks to leverage its enormous network of stores — as well as launch two-day shipping and pickup services — to become a bigger player online, the distinction between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar is falling away. The customer is interacting with just one brand: Walmart.

Walmart, which has estimated that 90% of the US population lives within 10 miles of one of its more than 4,700 stores, is hoping customers who prefer to return items easily in-store will choose the retail chain over its online-only competitors.

Walmart isn't the only retailer diversifying its strategy — Amazon, its top online competitor, is making large bets in the physical world, including drastically increasing its distribution-center footprint across the US.

The most notable of Amazon's new initiatives is its $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods, though it has only 400 stores. Walmart is aiming to prove it can move online faster than its online competitors can move offline — and the largest retailer in the US is No. 1 for a reason.

Amazon seems to understand this. The department store Kohl's also recently announced a small partnership with Amazon to accept returns in some Kohl's stores, and another purchase in the same vein as Whole Foods isn't out of the question.

For now, though, Walmart remains king of the physical world.

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