Walmart’s Fastest-Growing Businesses Are Marketplace, Fulfillment, and Advertising
Walmart’s Q2 results give sellers one of the clearest signals yet about where the company is investing. Marketplace sales grew more than 50%, Walmart U.S. ecommerce grew 24%, and Walmart Connect grew 43%.
Nearly half of Walmart’s marketplace business now flows through Walmart fulfillment services. (Walmart News & Leadership(opens in new tab))
What Changed: Facts Only
Global ecommerce grew 23%. Global advertising grew 38%. Store-fulfilled delivery grew 40%.
Walmart U.S. marketplace net sales increased more than 50%, while nearly 50% of marketplace business flowed through fulfillment services.
Ecommerce now represents roughly 23% of Walmart U.S. sales. (Walmart News & Leadership(opens in new tab))
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
Walmart is building the same reinforcing loop that made Amazon so powerful.
More marketplace assortment creates more customer traffic. WFS improves delivery. More transactions improve advertising data. Walmart Connect then monetizes the traffic.
Sellers should look at Walmart as a complete operating channel, not somewhere to park a duplicate Amazon catalog.
What This Means for Ecommerce Sellers
The biggest question is whether your Walmart investment matches where Walmart itself is growing.
That means assortment, WFS adoption, search visibility, advertising, and contribution margin should be reviewed together.
What Is Not Changing
Amazon remains substantially larger.
This does not mean every Amazon SKU or advertising dollar belongs on Walmart.
What to Do Now
Light prep recommended
Identify the Walmart SKUs already showing demand and determine whether fulfillment speed, inventory depth, or advertising is limiting their growth.
Bigger Picture Signal
Walmart is no longer building ecommerce around the store.
It is turning the store, marketplace, fulfillment network, and advertising business into one connected commerce platform.
Source: Walmart Releases Q2 FY27 Earnings(opens in new tab)
Amazon Wants 30-Minute Drone Delivery to Stop Being a Novelty
Amazon plans to expand Prime Air from its current 11 U.S. locations to nearly 500 cities and towns by the end of 2026.
That would represent roughly a sixfold increase in its footprint. (Amazon News(opens in new tab))
What Changed: Facts Only
Prime Air can carry products up to five pounds that fit inside roughly a large shoebox.
Amazon says more than 60% of the products customers frequently purchase meet those size and weight requirements.
Deliveries can arrive in about 30 minutes, with most arriving around 60 minutes. (Amazon News(opens in new tab))
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
Speed changes which products shoppers consider worth ordering online.
A missing cosmetic, charger, medicine, grocery item, or household product starts competing with the convenience store rather than another ecommerce website.
What Is Not Changing
Drone delivery is still geographically limited and product eligibility is constrained by weight and size.
What to Do Now
No action required, monitor only
Watch which categories Amazon prioritizes as Prime Air reaches more markets.
Bigger Picture Signal
Amazon is trying to remove delivery time as a reason to shop anywhere else.
Source: Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery Is Expanding to Nearly 500 U.S. Cities and Towns(opens in new tab)
Three-Hour Delivery Is Spreading Beyond Amazon and Grocery
Home Depot rolled out Express Delivery nationally, using more than 2,000 U.S. stores as fulfillment hubs.
Customers can receive thousands of home-improvement products in three hours or less without paying for a membership. (The Home Depot(opens in new tab))
What Changed: Facts Only
Express Delivery carries a small flat fee.
Home Depot also offers free same-day delivery on eligible orders of $25 or more placed by 4 p.m.
More than 65% of its in-stock parcel products can already arrive same day or next day. (The Home Depot(opens in new tab))
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
Fast delivery is becoming a consumer expectation across categories, even for products that were never considered instant-commerce purchases.
What Is Not Changing
Not every SKU or ZIP code receives the same delivery promise.
What to Do Now
No action required, monitor only
Marketplace sellers should watch whether customer conversion increasingly separates around delivery speed.
Bigger Picture Signal
Two-day shipping was once a differentiator. Increasingly, it is becoming the slow option.
Source: The Home Depot Expands Fastest Fulfillment With Nationwide Express Delivery(opens in new tab)
Stop Scrolling. Start Knowing.
Give your eyes a break and tune in to the latest episode of Selling on Giants: Weekly eCommerce News & Updates.
🎧 Tune in now on Buzzsprout (opens in new tab)and YouTube(opens in new tab).
In this episode:
🔹Delayed back-to-school shopping and what it means for holiday demand
🔹How brands can improve AI-driven product discovery
🔹U.S.-Canada tariffs and their impact on eCommerce pricing
🔹KPop Demon Hunters, trademarks & Amazon Brand Registry
🔹Labubu, Pop Mart & turning viral products into sustainable growth
🔹The broader shift toward faster, more compressed commerce
🔹What eCommerce brands should prioritize as consumer behavior changes
AI-Referred Shoppers Are Now More Valuable Than Traditional Web Traffic
Adobe Analytics data shows shoppers arriving at U.S. retail sites from AI tools are no longer just researching.
They are converting at a higher rate and spending more when they arrive. (Digital Commerce 360(opens in new tab))
What Changed: Facts Only
AI-referred visits generated 53% more revenue per visit than other traffic and converted at a 60% higher rate.
AI referral traffic increased 62% year over year in July and 1,219% compared with October 2024.
Adobe analyzed more than one trillion visits to U.S. retail websites. (Digital Commerce 360(opens in new tab))
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
AI discovery is becoming measurable revenue, not just a future SEO debate.
The catch is that Adobe found 39% of the broader retail homepage sample it analyzed was not fully machine-readable.
What Is Not Changing
AI traffic is growing quickly from a smaller base and does not replace Amazon, Google, retail media, or traditional search overnight.
What to Do Now
Light prep recommended
Test whether AI assistants can correctly understand your products, specifications, use cases, price, and availability.
Bigger Picture Signal
The next search optimization problem is increasingly whether an AI can understand and recommend the product before a shopper ever sees it.
Source: Adobe: AI-Referral Traffic Spending, Converting More Than Counterparts(opens in new tab)
Ozempic Is Coming for the Halloween Candy Aisle
This is my oddball story of the week.
Hershey is expanding its Halloween assortment beyond candy into popcorn, cheese puffs, and pretzels as health trends and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs change how Americans snack. (Reuters(opens in new tab))
What Changed: Facts Only
Hershey says its Zero Sugar candy, mint, and gum business grew about 4.3 times from 2020 through 2025.
The company is also using AI to shorten product-development timelines by roughly three months, while its innovation pipeline expanded 75% in nine months. (Reuters(opens in new tab))
Its AI research also surfaced the continued growth of “trunk-or-treat,” influencing smaller and individually wrapped formats. (Reuters(opens in new tab))
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
The opportunity is not always taking share inside your current category.
Sometimes consumer behavior creates permission for your product to enter an entirely new buying occasion.
What Is Not Changing
Chocolate is not disappearing. Hershey says it remains the preferred Halloween treat.
What to Do Now
Light prep recommended
Look for buying occasions around your category that are changing because of health, culture, demographics, or social behavior.
Bigger Picture Signal
Consumer behavior can redefine a category faster than most product roadmaps can react.
Source: Hershey Targets the Health-Conscious With Savoury Halloween Snacks(opens in new tab)
A $500 Ticket Mix-Up Is a Good Reminder That Brand Registry Is Not Trademark Clearance
Christian metal band Demon Hunter sued Netflix and AEG over KPop Demon Hunters as the hit franchise expands into music, merchandise, and live events.
The band claims consumers are already confusing the two brands. (Reuters(opens in new tab))
What Changed: Facts Only
The lawsuit alleges trademark infringement and unfair competition.
One example cited in the complaint involved a parent allegedly purchasing tickets to a Demon Hunter concert while intending to buy tickets for the KPop Demon Hunters tour. (Reuters(opens in new tab))
Netflix disputes the claims. No court has ruled that infringement occurred.
Why It Matters: Operator Lens
Trademark problems frequently appear after something becomes successful and expands into adjacent categories.
Amazon Brand Registry protects rights you already own. It does not determine whether your name was clear to use in the first place.
What Is Not Changing
Similar names do not automatically constitute infringement.
What to Do Now
Light prep recommended
Before expanding a brand into new categories, confirm trademark coverage rather than assuming the original registration is enough.
Bigger Picture Signal
As brands become merchandise, media, collaborations, and experiences, intellectual property becomes an operating asset.
Source: Netflix Sued by Band Demon Hunter Over ‘KPop Demon Hunters’(opens in new tab)
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