Amazon Overtakes Walmart in Revenue: A Historic Milestone

In a historic turn of events, Amazon has beaten Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time in history, unseating the retail giant that had been at the top since 2012. Amazon posted $187.8 billion in fourth quarter revenue, beating Walmart’s $180.5 billion.

Since 2012 Walmart has been the leading revenue earner, bypassing Exxon Mobil at that time and dominating the retail industry ever since. Although Amazon has recently surpassed Walmart in quarterly revenues, Walmart remains the leader in yearly revenues. Estimates indicate Walmart will hit $708.7 billion for the fiscal year, with Amazon set to close at $700.8 billion.

Amazon’s strong quarterly revenue is fueled not just by its consumer business but also by its heavy investments in Amazon Web Services (AWS), advertising and seller services for third parties.The revenues from these services together constitute a fair-sized chunk. AWS alone creates about 17% of Amazon’s overall sales. Third party services such as commissions, advertising and customer service account for 24.5%.

This achievement is a significant milestone in the rise of Amazon, which has surpassed Walmart in terms of market capitalization since 2015. Although Walmart is still a key player in retail, Amazon’s innovative thinking along with aggressive expansion of its cloud computing and other services mark this as a landmark moment for the company.