Amazon is expected to push past Walmart as the No. 1 retailer in the US by 2024, according to new report from Ascential. That news is hardly surprising to retail watchers, as Walmart bet on a store-based approach years ago. While that made sense at the time, consumers have changed their habits — and Walmart is about to pay the price.
The mammoth company — which today is not only the largest retailer in the US but the largest company in any category — had little choice at the time. With so much of its revenue coming from its 4,735 brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce was seen as a way to extend that revenue, but to never replace it. (Globally, Walmart today commands 10,585 stores and employs some 2.3 million associates.)
