Top 10+ Walmart Competitors: In-Depth Analysis and Comparison

Before diving into the leading Walmart competitors, it’s essential to evaluate Walmart’s current market position. A SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) offers valuable insight into how Walmart operates and where its rivals may offer better options for sellers and consumers alike.

What Are Walmart’s Strengths?

• Extensive Retail Infrastructure: With thousands of physical stores and a rapidly growing eCommerce arm, Walmart seamlessly blends online and offline shopping, giving it massive reach.

• Strong Brand Trust: Walmart is known for its affordability and convenience, attracting price-conscious consumers and loyal shoppers.

• Powerful Logistics & Fulfillment: Through Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS), sellers can benefit from fast, reliable delivery options similar to Amazon’s FBA.

• Aggressive Pricing Strategy: Walmart’s “Everyday Low Prices” philosophy helps it remain highly competitive, particularly with household essentials and groceries.

What Are Walmart’s Weaknesses?

• Challenging Seller Approval Process: Walmart Marketplace is not as accessible to new sellers compared to platforms like eBay or Etsy.

• Limited International Reach: While Walmart dominates in the U.S., it has less global influence compared to competitors like Amazon or Alibaba.

• Fewer Marketing Tools: Walmart lacks the advanced advertising ecosystem that Amazon or even TikTok Shop offers, making brand-building more difficult for new sellers.

• Slower Tech Adaptation: Walmart’s innovation curve can be slower than agile, tech-driven platforms, impacting seller tools and data access.

Which Opportunities Might Walmart Have?

• Expanding E-commerce Market: The shift to online shopping is still growing, and Walmart is investing heavily in tech, logistics, and seller onboarding.

• Growing Marketplace Ecosystem: With more automation services and third-party tools now integrating with Walmart, it’s becoming a stronger option for DTC and B2B brands.

• Omnichannel Potential: Few walmart competitors can match Walmart’s mix of physical stores and online options, giving sellers a unique edge in local fulfillment.

• WFS Growth: As Walmart Fulfillment Services continues to scale, sellers can take advantage of streamlined shipping and customer service.

What Threats Does Walmart Face?

• Dominance of Amazon: Amazon remains the #1 eCommerce player globally, attracting both sellers and customers with unmatched logistics, tech, and market share.

• Niche Platforms Rising: Platforms like Etsy, Wish, and TikTok Shop are capturing niche audiences that Walmart doesn’t cater to as effectively.

• Seller Loyalty to Amazon & Shopify: Many experienced sellers still prefer Amazon or Shopify due to better tools, larger audiences, or easier integration.

• Global Giants Like Alibaba: Walmart’s U.S.-centric model may struggle to compete with international behemoths offering cheaper products and broader reach.

In a rapidly evolving retail and eCommerce landscape, Walmart faces fierce competition from a wide range of companies, each with its unique business model, market position, and seller tools. Whether you’re a brand, wholesaler, or dropshipper looking to scale, understanding these Walmart similar companies can help you diversify your selling strategy and reach more customers across different platforms.

Let’s dive into the top 10+ Walmart competitors you should know in 2025.

Amazon

No list of Walmart competitors would be complete without Amazon, the undisputed leader in global eCommerce. Amazon’s dominance lies in its expansive product selection, Prime membership model, cutting-edge logistics, and seller infrastructure.

For sellers, Amazon offers tools like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Sponsored Ads, A+ content, brand stores, and advanced analytics — tools that Walmart is still catching up on. Amazon’s marketplace ecosystem supports everything from third-party reselling to private-label brands, making it highly scalable.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Larger global market share

• Faster fulfillment via FBA

• Better seller visibility through advanced advertising

• More mature automation tools for sellers

Alibaba

While not a direct consumer-facing competitor, Alibaba is a significant player in global commerce. Its primary focus is on B2B sales, enabling businesses to source products in bulk from manufacturers across Asia, especially China.

Many Walmart and Amazon sellers use Alibaba to source inventory. But increasingly, Alibaba is also enabling dropshipping and small-MOQ ordering through platforms like AliExpress and Alibaba.com Direct.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Controls massive portions of global trade and supply chain

• Offers better pricing and sourcing flexibility

• Global reach with buyers in over 190 countries

Etsy

Etsy thrives in a completely different niche from Walmart, focusing on handmade, vintage, and unique creative products. However, it’s a strong walmart competitor when it comes to brand loyalty and seller margins.

Unlike Walmart’s mass-market approach, Etsy allows sellers to stand out with their own branding and story-driven product pages. Buyers often pay a premium for uniqueness, making it attractive to creators and artisan businesses.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Dedicated niche audience looking for personalized goods

• Higher margins for custom and handmade items

• Strong community-driven buyer-seller ecosystem

Wish

Wish is a mobile-focused marketplace known for its affordability and global reach. While the product quality on Wish is often scrutinized, its business model works well for high-volume, low-margin sellers.

Wish allows sellers to tap into emerging markets and budget-conscious consumers who are less sensitive to long shipping times or premium quality. Its gamified shopping experience also encourages impulse buying.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Appeals to price-sensitive shoppers

• Highly optimized mobile app for global users

• Fast onboarding and access to worldwide customers

Best Buy

Best Buy is Walmart’s closest rival in consumer electronics, appliances, and smart home gadgets. Its Best Buy Marketplace allows select third-party sellers to list products, although it’s not as open as Walmart’s platform.

Best Buy emphasizes trust, brand partnerships, and tech expertise, offering a more curated experience. For electronics sellers, Best Buy may offer a more qualified customer base willing to pay a premium.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Focused category dominance (tech and electronics)

• Strong retail footprint and fulfillment infrastructure

• Brand credibility in tech markets

Best for: Electronics and appliance sellers

eBay

eBay remains one of the most flexible platforms for online selling, offering auction-style and fixed-price listings. It’s particularly effective for used, refurbished, or collectible items — markets where Walmart does not compete strongly.

With tools like Terapeak and the ability to sell internationally with ease, eBay is ideal for sellers who want data-driven strategies and minimal restrictions.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Flexible selling structure (auctions, “Buy It Now,” bundles)

• Lower seller fees in some categories

• Access to Terapeak for product research

Rakuten

Rakuten is Japan’s largest online marketplace and a major player in Asia. Its seller-friendly tools and brand-first approach help businesses create full storefronts, not just product listings. While its U.S. presence is smaller, Rakuten offers access to a lucrative Asian market.

Unlike Walmart, Rakuten allows businesses more control over how they present and market themselves — including CRM tools, loyalty programs, and detailed analytics.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Full-brand storefront capabilities

• Focused on long-term customer loyalty

• Global audience with high purchase intent in Asia

TikTok Shop

TikTok Shop combines entertainment and commerce, giving sellers direct access to millions of daily users via short-form videos. This emerging social commerce platform is especially powerful for viral products, influencer marketing, and impulse purchases.

Walmart lacks a native solution for content-driven commerce, making TikTok Shop a strong walmart competitor, especially among Gen Z and Millennial shoppers.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Organic reach + paid promotion = viral sales potential

• Direct in-app checkout capabilities

• Influencer collaborations boost trust and conversions

Target

Target Plus is Target’s curated marketplace, offering third-party sellers a premium selling experience — but it’s invite-only, so access is more restricted. Like Walmart, Target combines a strong in-store presence with an online marketplace.

Target appeals to a more style-conscious, brand-loyal consumer base. For sellers with higher-end products or premium branding, Target may offer better audience alignment than Walmart.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Stronger brand identity among mid- to high-income shoppers

• Better merchandising and store presentation

• Curated product selection = higher perceived value

Home Depot

Home Depot is a leader in home improvement and hardware — sectors that Walmart participates in but does not dominate. Its robust supplier network and Home Depot Pro services make it a go-to platform for contractors and DIY customers alike.

Home Depot’s marketplace allows for scalable product listing, project-based selling (e.g., bundles), and B2B opportunities not available on Walmart.

Why it competes with Walmart:

• Deep specialization in home and construction

• Strong contractor and B2B customer base

• High average order value

Costco

Costco operates on a membership-based warehouse model that directly competes with Walmart’s bulk-buying business (like Sam’s Club). However, Costco’s appeal lies in its minimalist product selection, extreme price efficiency, and strong brand loyalty.

Rather than offering thousands of brands, Costco curates fewer SKUs and negotiates in bulk for deep discounts, creating a high-trust, low-choice environment. Shoppers believe they’re getting the best value without having to sift through options — a powerful psychological lever.

Costco also invests heavily in its private-label brand, Kirkland Signature, which spans nearly every category and often outperforms national brands in quality perception. This level of vertical integration and trust challenges Walmart’s third-party heavy catalog.

Kroger

As one of the largest traditional grocery chains in the U.S., Kroger is a major rival in the food and beverage sector. What sets Kroger apart is its deep investment in data-driven personalization through its loyalty program and advanced AI-powered pricing tools.

Kroger’s massive footprint in fresh groceries, in-house brands, and private-label organics gives it an edge where Walmart struggles — particularly in perishables. Its strong regional ties also allow for faster delivery and pickup solutions.

Additionally, Kroger has doubled down on digital transformation through partnerships with Instacart and Ocado, enabling advanced micro-fulfillment and same-day grocery delivery.

Walgreens

Walgreens is a retail pharmacy giant that merges healthcare services with consumer goods — an area Walmart has only moderately penetrated. While known for its pharmacy operations, Walgreens is increasingly building out its eCommerce and delivery capabilities.

Its focus on convenience-based retail (think 15-minute store trips) and deep integration into health insurance networks make it hard for general retailers like Walmart to compete in this category.

With the expansion of same-day prescription delivery and over-the-counter product eCommerce, Walgreens is positioning itself not just as a pharmacy, but as a hybrid health and retail ecosystem.

Kohl’s

Kohl’s offers a unique blend of department store appeal and mid-range pricing. Its strategy of partnering with brands like Sephora has allowed it to modernize and diversify its in-store experiences, drawing in demographics that may bypass Walmart’s standard offerings.

What makes Kohl’s a different kind of walmart competitor is its omnichannel capabilities — such as BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick Up In Store), easy returns from partners like Amazon, and localized promotions. These tactics attract higher-income suburban shoppers that Walmart sometimes misses.

Additionally, Kohl’s is innovating with loyalty and credit card programs, turning casual buyers into long-term customers with points-based incentives and exclusive shopping events.

Dollar General

Dollar General dominates the discount retail space, particularly in rural America where Walmart Supercenters may be out of reach. Its strategy is hyper-focused on convenience, with smaller-format stores located in underserved areas.

By emphasizing consumables, seasonal products, and household essentials at ultra-low prices, Dollar General has positioned itself as a necessity store rather than a shopping destination — a key distinction that drives foot traffic.

Moreover, its investment in private-label goods and digital coupon platforms is helping it capture a mobile-savvy yet budget-conscious demographic, carving out a niche that Walmart doesn’t always reach effectively.

Instacart

Though not a retailer in the traditional sense, Instacart represents a growing threat through its marketplace model for grocery delivery. By aggregating products from stores like Costco, Kroger, and CVS, it gives consumers a digital-first way to shop multiple brands without ever visiting a store.

Instacart’s strengths lie in speed, convenience, and partnerships. Its intuitive app, AI-powered search, and gig worker fulfillment make grocery shopping an on-demand experience.

As e-grocery adoption continues to grow, Walmart must compete not just with stores, but also with platforms that can consolidate retail under one frictionless interface.

Carrefour

Carrefour is a major international retailer and one of Walmart’s fiercest competitors in Europe, Latin America, and parts of Asia. The company operates hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, and eCommerce platforms — mirroring Walmart’s own multi-format retail strategy.

What makes Carrefour especially formidable is its commitment to localization. The brand adapts its product selection, marketing, and sourcing based on regional demands and cultural preferences.

Carrefour is also at the forefront of sustainability and transparency, giving it a strategic edge among environmentally conscious consumers. With investments in digitalization and AI-driven logistics, Carrefour is modernizing at pace with Walmart on the global stage.

Aldi

Aldi has transformed from a discount grocer to a disruptive retail force across the U.S. and Europe. Known for its no-frills stores, 90% private-label inventory, and ultra-efficient operations, Aldi offers a price-point challenge that even Walmart finds hard to match.

With a focus on limited SKUs, fast turnover, and minimal in-store staff, Aldi slashes operational costs and passes those savings onto customers. Its minimalist experience is now seen as intentional simplicity, not just thrift.

As it rapidly expands across suburban and urban U.S. markets, Aldi is stealing share from big-box retailers — offering consumers quality at unbeatable prices without the bulk-buying commitment.