Walmart’s Winning Week: How It Outpaced Amazon During 2025’s Summer Deal Season

A Shift in the E-Commerce Power Balance

For years, Amazon’s Prime Day has set the pace for mid-year digital retail. But in July 2025, that script flipped. Walmart not only held its own during the competitive summer sales window—it outperformed Amazon across multiple key metrics.

This wasn’t just a one-off marketing win. It was a signal: the rules of online retail engagement are changing. And Walmart, long seen as the challenger in e-commerce, is gaining ground by doubling down on price leadership, marketplace expansion, and mobile-first convenience.

Amazon’s Four-Day Gamble Opens the Door

Amazon made a bold move this year, stretching Prime Day from its usual 48 hours to a full four days (July 15–18). The idea? Give consumers more time to browse and buy. But the extended format may have backfired.

According to a Bloomberg Second Measure report, the longer event actually gave consumers more space to comparison shop—something budget-conscious shoppers are already doing more of. As a result, many found better deals elsewhere.

And increasingly, “elsewhere” means Walmart.

Walmart’s Sales Surge: The Numbers Tell the Story

Walmart’s own “Deals” event, which ran from July 8 to July 13, saw a 24% year-over-year increase in online spending—six times Amazon’s Prime Day growth. That figure, based on anonymized credit and debit card transactions, came from Bloomberg Second Measure.

Meanwhile, Walmart.com saw a 14% increase in web traffic, compared to Amazon’s flat numbers. Mobile app usage surged even more dramatically: 22% for Walmart vs. 3% for Amazon, according to Similarweb.

This wasn’t just a flash in the pan. It was a consumer trend in motion.

Cross-Shopping Signals Cracks in Loyalty

Historically, Prime Day has been a loyalty play—designed to lock in Amazon Prime members. But even that grip appears to be loosening.

Bloomberg’s data shows that 8% of Prime Day shoppers also made purchases at Walmart.com during the same week, up from 5% in 2024. That’s a 60% jump in cross-shopping.

Consumers aren’t just loyal to a platform anymore. They’re loyal to value.

A Perfect Storm of Timing and Trust

Walmart’s success wasn’t accidental. Its deals week overlapped with Amazon’s extended Prime Day and hit just as families began prepping for the back-to-school season.

Bestsellers? Everyday essentials—think socks, underwear, school supplies like glue sticks and crayons. The company leaned into practical purchases over big-ticket items, aligning with broader consumer caution around discretionary spending.

As Kearney partner Katherine Black put it in a CNBC interview, “consumers saw it as a chance to stock up.” The economic headwinds—from sticky inflation to ongoing uncertainty—are making shoppers more intentional. And Walmart gave them a reason to act.

More Sellers, More Selection, More Momentum

Behind the scenes, Walmart’s expanding third-party marketplace was another quiet driver of success. This year’s event featured nearly three times as many participating sellers as 2024, according to internal data referenced by Retail Dive.

That expansion creates two powerful ripple effects: broader assortment and more competitive pricing. In a world where deal discovery happens on mobile screens, this advantage matters.

Membership Models and the Value Equation

Walmart+ and Amazon Prime are increasingly in direct competition. Walmart’s $98 annual fee undercuts Amazon’s $139 membership while offering comparable benefits—free shipping, fuel discounts, and early access to deals.

With app usage rising and Walmart+ perks extending into in-store value, consumers are beginning to see Walmart not just as a backup plan—but as a primary savings platform.

Coresight Research CEO Deborah Weinswig framed it well: “Competing sales give shoppers a greater sense of control,” especially in times of financial stress. Control—over prices, platforms, and priorities—is now a central part of the e-commerce value proposition.

Final Thoughts

Amazon still reigns over the broader U.S. e-commerce market, capturing around 40% of online retail spend, according to Insider Intelligence. Its four-day sale drew an impressive 403 million visits, nearly six times Walmart’s.

But reach isn’t everything. Engagement, growth, and relevance are now up for grabs—and Walmart is capitalizing on that.

This year’s summer showdown proved that Prime Day isn’t invincible. With a sharper value story, a growing digital ecosystem, and a mobile experience that’s finally catching fire, Walmart is reshaping what it means to win online.

In the battle for omnichannel dominance, Walmart is no longer playing catch-up. It’s playing its own game—and winning.

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