Better Buy: Amazon.com vs. Walmart
Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Walmart (NYSE: WMT) remain the two most prominent names in American retailing. One has built its fortune by leading on the e-commerce front. The other cultivated its dominance of traditional retail in the late 20th century by taking extreme discounting across the U.S. and, later, to many other countries.
Amazon has been getting into the brick-and-mortar retail segment in recent years, either buying out or opening new physical stores. In contrast, Walmart has returned to investing prominence by enhancing its online offerings and leveraging its physical store footprint to give customers an omnichannel experience. While these moves helped to boost both stocks, one must look at the businesses and the retail industry generally to find which one offers better potential returns going forward.
Amazon and Walmart are not as similar as some might assume. For instance, they mostly operate on opposite ends of the retail spectrum. Walmart remains primarily focused on physical locations, while Amazon holds a predominantly online presence. Both companies have worked to become more focused on omnichannel, but the long-established core strengths remain.
Source Fool.com
