The economy is flashing mixed signals as consumer spending heads into the holidays. Against this backdrop, America’s top two retailers are on very different trajectories. Industry leader Amazon is gaining momentum across product categories and extending its lead, while runner-up Walmart continues to grow its core grocery business but is mostly stalling in other areas.

Amazon is not just posting topline growth. In the company’s highest-revenue segments, it has expanded its market share over the last six years, with sporting goods, hobbies, music and books now accounting for 33% of the entire U.S. market, and electronics and appliances for 31%. Importantly, Amazon’s strongest performance is in these and other discretionary categories, rather than in essentials like groceries. This positions the eCommerce giant to benefit disproportionately from Q4’s seasonal lift, when non-discretionary spending surges.

Things look very different for Walmart. The company continues to increase its commanding lead in groceries, capturing 20% of U.S. food and beverage spending in Q3, but this single category accounts for almost all of its recent growth. Its market share in most other categories has declined since 2019, including clothing and apparel, home furnishings and automotive parts. Still, Walmart is holding strong against Amazon, with its overall retail market share slowly climbing.

These are just some of the findings detailed in “Amazon Gains as Walmart Leans Harder on Groceries,” a PYMNTS Intelligence exclusive report. This edition of the Share of Wallet series examines Amazon and Walmart’s share of retail spending as of Q3 2025. It draws on PYMNTS Intelligence estimates derived from Amazon and Walmart earnings reports and on national data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

• Amazon Leads in Trillion-Dollar Retail Battle
• Walmart’s Eggs Are in One Basket
• Amazon Growing Across Categories
• Read More
• Methodology

Amazon Leads in Trillion-Dollar Retail Battle

Amazon and Walmart combined for $1.3 trillion in retail sales—17% of the U.S. total—over the last 12 months.

The race between America’s retail titans continues. Over the past 12 months, Amazon and Walmart accounted for $1.3 trillion in retail sales, representing 17% of total U.S. retail spending. Amazon remains in pole position and pulled further ahead in Q3 2025, racking up $173 billion in retail sales for the quarter, 20% ahead of Walmart, which came in at $144 billion. That puts the online behemoth at 9.1% of all U.S. retail sales, compared to Walmart’s 7.6%.

For Amazon, seasonality plays a huge role. Each year, its sales increase in the third quarter and then surge during the last three months of the holiday season. This makes year-on-year growth in the same quarter a critical data point, and the latest numbers tell a clear story: Amazon’s share of retail spending increased 7.1% since Q3 2024 and 47% since Q3 2021. Conversely, Walmart, which shows little seasonal fluctuation, has edged up only 0.5% in the last four years. This means that Walmart is holding strong while Amazon eats away at the market shares of other retail players.

Walmart’s Eggs Are in One Basket

Despite their fierce competition, Amazon and Walmart have very different product profiles.

Beyond the trillion-dollar headline figures, the two retail giants have distinct business models that focus on different product segments. This helps explain the differences in their growth and why Amazon—but not Walmart—experiences big seasonal swings.

Amazon has built a diversified retail portfolio, with its top three categories in Q3 2025 totaling 49% of its sales for that period. Electronics and appliances lead at 18%, followed closely by sporting goods, hobbies, music and books (16%) and clothing and apparel (15%). Sales in all these categories tend to jump near the end of the year, thanks to Black Friday and other seasonal spending. Notably, food and beverages, which exhibit little seasonal variation, account for only 7% of the retail leader’s sales. This includes Amazon’s Whole Foods business, which the online retailer acquired in 2017.

Walmart, meanwhile, has its eggs mostly in one basket. It remains the largest grocery player in the U.S. by a huge margin, thanks to its footprint of more than 4,600 big-box stores and Sam’s Club business. Food and beverages account for 60% of the company’s total sales. Even its runner-up category, health and personal care, which accounts for 11%, is grocery-adjacent.

Amazon Growing Across Categories

Walmart is struggling to maintain its non-grocery market share while Amazon continues to post consistent growth across categories.

A deeper look at the data reveals that Amazon has extended its market share growth across every major product category. Its most dominant position is in sporting goods, hobbies, music and books, which sits at 33% of total U.S. market share after growing 45% in the last six years. Electronics and appliances, now at 31%, climbed an even steeper 51% during the same period. Other categories show large increases as well, most notably home furnishings and clothing and apparel, each of which more than doubled since 3Q 2019.

Walmart, meanwhile, has improved its position in groceries but seen its market share fall in nearly all other categories. In Q3 2025, Walmart captured 20% of all U.S. dollars spent on food and beverages, up 14% from six years earlier. Health and personal care sales also climbed 12%. All other categories, however, fell or stayed flat. One of its most notable drops comes in clothing and apparel, which slid 16% during the same period. Meanwhile, home furnishings declined 9% and auto parts skidded 6%.

Zooming out, these category-level numbers show that America’s top two retailers are on very different growth trajectories. Amazon continues to expand its overall footprint, with strong market-share growth across nearly all product categories. That said, it is highly dependent on discretionary spending, especially on electronics and hobby items, nice-to-haves that could see sharp declines if the economy takes a downturn. Conversely, Walmart’s robust grocery sales account for nearly all its growth. This limits upside, especially during consumers’ ongoing Q4 holiday spending spree, but also means the company can thrive even during a slowdown.

Read More

PYMNTS Intelligence is the leading provider of information on the trends driving innovation in consumer finance, digital payments and financial inclusion. To stay up to date, subscribe to our newsletters and read our in-depth reports.

Methodology

“Amazon Gains as Walmart Leans Harder on Groceries” examines Amazon and Walmart’s share of retail spending as of Q3 2025. It draws on PYMNTS Intelligence estimates based on Amazon and Walmart earnings reports and national data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis.