Amazon and Walmart, and the bitter battle between them over all kinds of retail spending, is capturing a significant share of digital ink on these digital pages.
And as the latest statistics in our ongoing tracker series on competition between the two companies show, Walmart is leading the way in food and beverage consumer spending, with a share of about 19%, far ahead of Amazon's share of about 3%. exceeded.
How are consumers paying for it? As Karen Webster recently wrote, credit is becoming the primary payment method of choice, and buy now, pay later (BNPL) Although it has fallen behind, it still attracts attention.
Digging into a little more detail in connection with Walmart's fourth-quarter results, the company notes that groceries drove 4% year-over-year growth in same-store comp sales here in the states. The grocery sector he increased by mid-single-digit percentage points. Walmart said its strong results reflected stock price gains measured in dollars and units. The food sector grew due to demand for fresh produce. Once again, we see a mix of ways for consumers to obtain the supplies they need.
Globally, e-commerce sales recently increased 23% to $30 billion, accounting for 18% of net sales, led by pickup and delivery. When grocery sales are up so much, pickup is up so much, and delivery is getting better, it's no wonder customers are using those channels to shop for groceries. “E-commerce remains a key point of differentiation for Sam's,” CFO John David Rainey said on a conference call with analysts. [Club]Delivery and curbside are driving e-commerce growth, with in-club scan-and-go penetration increasing by more than 270 basis points. ”
Elsewhere on the conference call, when asked about groceries in general, Walmart U.S. President and CEO John Farner said, “More and more customers are using same-day service and express delivery. It also covers a wide range of categories, so it will be intuitive to use.” However, customers are also ordering other items along with their grocery purchases.
As detailed in our exclusive article on Target's earnings last week, the new service targets free same-day shipping from the retailer's on-demand delivery aggregator Shipt. Same-day service, which includes in-store pickup, curbside and shipping, grew 13.6%, driven by strong curbside. In comments on the earnings call, the company noted that food and beverage sales accounted for more than $20 billion, up from $8 billion in sales since 2019.
As further evidence of omnichannel progress, Kroger's latest financial results highlighted a 10% year-over-year increase in digital sales and a 24% year-over-year increase in delivery sales. The number of digital households increased by 18% compared to the previous year.
Clicks and mortar is here to stay
The just-released Clicks and Mortar Shopping Report found that 39% of consumers now shop with clicks and mortar, and they shop across digital and physical channels. And as noted here, one-third of grocers are innovating their loyalty programs, and more than one-third are expanding and innovating the channels through which they receive payments.