Walmart is accelerating its battle against Amazon with a weapon that the e-commerce giant cannot copy: more than 4,000 stores

Walmart is accelerating its digital transformation and its competition with Amazon through a strategy that combines the growth of eCommerce with one of its biggest competitive advantages: a network of thousands of physical stores across the United States, which are increasingly serving as distribution centers and delivery points.

During the second quarter of its fiscal year 2027, Walmart’s global eCommerce sales grew 23%, driven by store pickup and delivery services, as well as the expansion of Marketplace. eCommerce now accounts for approximately 24% of Walmart’s global net sales, according to results for the period ended July 31, 2026.

The strategy is particularly relevant in the United States. Walmart U.S. reported net sales of $125.2 billion, up 3.5% from a year earlier, but its digital business grew at a much faster pace: online sales increased 24%.

Unlike companies born exclusively online, Walmart can leverage its extensive physical infrastructure to accelerate deliveries. As of July 31, 2026, the company operated 4,615 Walmart U.S. locations, including Supercenters, discount stores, Neighborhood Markets and other formats, in addition to 602 Sam’s Club locations, according to the company’s corporate information.

Stores become Walmart’s digital weapon

The expansion of eCommerce is transforming the traditional role of Walmart stores.

eCommerce now represents more than 23% of Walmart U.S.’s sales mix, double its share five years ago. However, far from making physical locations less relevant, the company says they have become a key component of its digital strategy.

Today, stores serve as last-mile nodes for approximately 80% of Walmart U.S. eCommerce orders and 100% of its express deliveries. This infrastructure allows inventory originally intended for store shelves to also be used to fulfill orders placed through smartphones or computers.

Walmart highlighted that sales through store-fulfilled delivery grew approximately 43% during the quarter. In addition, approximately 37% of store-fulfilled orders were accelerated deliveries completed in less than three hours.

The company has even expanded deliveries of less than 30 minutes to 38 U.S. markets. Express deliveries grew 48% during the quarter, according to management during its conference call with analysts.

For Walmart, speed is not merely a logistics improvement. The company sees it as a tool for acquiring and retaining consumers: customers who use express delivery shop more frequently and are more likely to become Walmart+ members.

Walmart Marketplace grows 52%

The digital offensive is not limited to selling its own merchandise.

Marketplace sales in the United States increased 52%, while nearly half of that business used Walmart Fulfillment Services during the quarter, almost 400 basis points more than a year earlier.

The model allows third-party sellers to add products to Walmart’s digital catalog, expanding its assortment without necessarily requiring the company to purchase and store all of the inventory itself.

At the same time, Marketplace growth feeds other higher-margin businesses, particularly advertising, fulfillment and data.

Walmart’s global advertising business increased 38%, while Walmart Connect grew 43% in the United States.

Walmart wants stores and eCommerce to operate as a single business

The strategy shows how Walmart is moving away from the idea of managing physical stores and eCommerce as separate businesses.

The company explained that an order paid for through a smartphone can be counted as eCommerce, even if a store employee is the one who picks the product from the shelf, prepares the order and delivers it to the customer.

As a result, Walmart says more units than ever are now moving through its stores, including both in-store purchases and digital orders.

This model represents one of Walmart’s main bets for competing in the next stage of eCommerce: transforming more than 4,000 U.S. locations not only into places to shop, but also into a distributed logistics network located close to millions of households.

Amazon built its leadership through warehouses and fulfillment centers; now Walmart is seeking to demonstrate that its historic network of stores can become an advantage in the digital economy.