{"id":3620557,"date":"2026-04-03T04:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/?post_type=study_posts&#038;p=3620557"},"modified":"2026-04-02T19:39:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T23:39:39","slug":"amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle","status":"publish","type":"study_posts","link":"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/study_posts\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon\u2019s Discretionary Surge Is Redrawing the Retail Battle"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Retail is accounting for a smaller share of total consumer spending compared to recent years, but competition within that shrinking pie is becoming more intense. As Amazon and Walmart compete for a larger piece of consumer wallets, their strategies are increasingly diverging. Amazon continues to capture a growing share of discretionary spending, particularly during peak shopping periods like the holiday season, while Walmart remains more firmly rooted in everyday essentials. This split is reshaping how households decide to allocate their spending between the two retail giants, reflecting broader shifts in consumer priorities and economic pressures. This <b><strong>PYMNTS Intelligence<\/strong><\/b> data book highlights five key takeaways from our latest data on consumer spending and retail performance.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"first_title\" class=\"lh-sm fw-bold\">Walmart and Amazon\u2019s Retail Race<\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"lh-sm\">Retail Cooling<\/h3>\n<p>Retail remains the largest category of consumer spending overall, but its share declined to approximately 30.8% in Q4 2025. This marks a noticeable drop from the elevated levels seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, as consumers redirect their spending toward services and other categories.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-Y1i8q\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"U.S. personal consumption\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/Y1i8q\/2\/\" height=\"643\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Stacked Bars\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.addEventListener(\"message\",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";r.style.height=d}}});<\/script><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"lh-sm\">Retail Spending Shift<\/h3>\n<p>Within retail, spending patterns are evolving. Discretionary categories such as health products, electronics and apparel are gaining a larger share, while traditionally strong sectors like gasoline and auto sales are losing ground.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-N47EW\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Adjusted estimated retail sales\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/N47EW\/1\/\" height=\"775\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.addEventListener(\"message\",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";r.style.height=d}}});<\/script><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"lh-sm\">Amazon\u2019s Peak<\/h3>\n<p>Amazon reached a new milestone by capturing 11.1% of total U.S. retail spending in Q4 2025. This growth was largely fueled by robust holiday shopping demand and the giant retailer\u2019s strength in discretionary categories.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-RfB5r\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Amazon\u2019s share of retail spending\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/RfB5r\/1\/\" height=\"669\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.addEventListener(\"message\",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";r.style.height=d}}});<\/script><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"lh-sm\">Walmart\u2019s Stability<\/h3>\n<p>Walmart\u2019s quarterly share has remained relatively steady, hovering between 7% and 8%, with minimal seasonal fluctuation. This consistency reflects its focus on essential goods and everyday low prices.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-db8MR\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Walmart\u2019s share of retail spending\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/db8MR\/1\/\" height=\"686\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.addEventListener(\"message\",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";r.style.height=d}}});<\/script><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"lh-sm\">The Retail Spending Divide<\/h3>\n<p>Amazon now commands roughly 27% of discretionary spending, while Walmart\u2019s share has declined to about 5% to 6%, underscoring a clear divide in consumer behavior.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"datawrapper-chart-xffGm\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" title=\"Share of discretionary spending\" src=\"https:\/\/datawrapper.dwcdn.net\/xffGm\/1\/\" height=\"688\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" aria-label=\"Line chart\" data-external=\"1\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">window.addEventListener(\"message\",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(\"iframe\");for(var t in a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[\"datawrapper-height\"][t]+\"px\";r.style.height=d}}});<\/script><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"first_title\" class=\"lh-sm fw-bold\">Methodology<\/h2>\n<p>\u201c<strong><b>Amazon\u2019s Discretionary Surge Is Redrawing the Retail Battle<\/b><\/strong>\u201d is based on findings from the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/study_posts\/consumer-wallet-reset-how-amazon-wins-discretionary-spend-and-walmart-holds-necessities\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b>March 2026 edition<\/b><\/a><\/strong> of the <b><strong>PYMNTS Intelligence<\/strong><\/b> exclusive <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/series\/share-of-wallet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><b><strong>Share of Wallet: Amazon vs. Walmart<\/strong><\/b><\/a> series. The analysis is based on PYMNTS Intelligence estimates using Amazon and Walmart earnings reports, along with data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis. It examines retail and consumer spending trends through Q4 2025. This data book focuses on five key insights from the report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3621310,"template":"","categories":[154928,4089],"tags":[4156,4954,156531,13328,9206,67958,164365,155059,67601,133069,9621,7770,4598],"class_list":["post-3620557","study_posts","type-study_posts","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pymnts-data-lab","category-retail","tag-amazon","tag-consumer-spending","tag-featured-insights","tag-featured-news","tag-news","tag-payments-intelligence","tag-pymnts-data-book","tag-pymnts-data-lab","tag-pymnts-intelligence","tag-pymnts-news","tag-retail","tag-retail-spending","tag-walmart","series-pymnts-data-books"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Retail Spend Divide Grows Between Amazon and Walmart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New data shows a widening retail spend divide as Amazon captures discretionary purchases and Walmart maintains its dominance in essentials.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/study_posts\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amazon\u2019s Discretionary Surge Is Redrawing the Retail Battle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/study_posts\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PYMNTS.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pymnts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pymnts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Amazons-Discretionary-Surge-Is-Redrawing-the-Retail-Battle-hero.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@pymnts\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/study_posts\\\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/study_posts\\\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\\\/\",\"name\":\"Retail Spend Divide Grows Between Amazon and Walmart\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/study_posts\\\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/study_posts\\\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Amazons-Discretionary-Surge-Is-Redrawing-the-Retail-Battle-hero.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-03T08:02:09+00:00\",\"description\":\"New data shows a widening retail spend divide as Amazon captures discretionary purchases and Walmart maintains its dominance in essentials.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/study_posts\\\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/study_posts\\\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/study_posts\\\/amazons-discretionary-surge-is-redrawing-the-retail-battle\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Amazons-Discretionary-Surge-Is-Redrawing-the-Retail-Battle-hero.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pymnts.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/Amazons-Discretionary-Surge-Is-Redrawing-the-Retail-Battle-hero.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":600,\"caption\":\"Hero image for the April 2026 edition of the PYMNTS Intelligence Share of Wallet: Amazon vs. Walmart report. 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