Walmart Just Declared War on Amazon Prime Day – Here’s What Sellers Need to Know

Walmart just fired the first shot in the summer shopping wars. Their 6-day ‘Deals’ event launches July 8—the exact same day as Amazon Prime Day. With deeper discounts and no membership required, this could be Prime Day’s biggest threat yet.

But here’s the hidden opportunity: while giants battle, smart sellers win on both fronts. The real question isn’t which platform will dominate, but whether you’re positioned to capture maximum share across both marketplaces during this high-stakes week.

The Strategic Battlefield: More Than Just Competing Sales

Walmart’s announcement of a six-day “Walmart Deals” event, launching simultaneously with Amazon Prime Day on July 8, isn’t just about competing for consumers—it’s a calculated move to attract sellers away from Amazon’s increasingly crowded and expensive marketplace.

For third-party sellers who have watched Amazon’s fees climb while competition intensifies, Walmart’s timing couldn’t be more strategic. The company is positioning itself as the seller-friendly alternative, offering lower fees, less competition, and access to both online and physical retail channels.

The Marketplace Math That Changes Everything

While consumers see competing sales events, sellers should see something else entirely: a major marketplace making a serious play for their business. Walmart’s decision to run their event for six days versus Amazon’s four isn’t just about customer convenience—it’s about giving sellers more time to move inventory and generate revenue.

The deal examples Walmart highlighted reveal their seller-centric strategy. The Samsung 32-inch monitor dropping from $299.99 to $199, and the Dyson vacuum falling from $399.99 to $229.99 aren’t just consumer bargains—they’re proof that Walmart is willing to work with sellers on significant margin compression to drive volume and market share.

The Multi-Channel Advantage That Amazon Can’t Match

For the first time, Walmart Deals will operate simultaneously online and in physical stores—a capability Amazon simply cannot replicate. This dual-channel approach offers sellers something revolutionary: the ability to reach customers through both digital and physical touchpoints within a single platform.

Infrastructure Benefits for Sellers

Sellers can now leverage Walmart’s 4,600+ U.S. stores as:

• Distribution points for faster delivery
• Pickup locations reducing shipping costs
• Return centers improving customer service
• Testing grounds for physical retail before scaling online

This integrated approach represents a fundamental shift in how marketplace selling works, providing sellers with logistics advantages that Amazon’s purely digital approach cannot replicate.

The Economics: Why This Matters to Your Bottom Line

Fee Structure Reality Check

While Amazon’s seller fees have steadily increased—with fulfillment fees rising 5.2% in 2024 alone—Walmart has been quietly building a more attractive cost structure:

Walmart vs Amazon Fee Comparison:

• Referral Fees: Walmart 6-15% vs Amazon 8-45%
• Fulfillment Costs: Walmart typically 10-20% lower than Amazon FBA
• Membership Access: Walmart+ $98 vs Amazon Prime $139

For sellers moving significant volume, these differences compound quickly into substantial savings.

Competition Dynamics

Amazon’s marketplace now hosts over 9 million sellers, creating intense competition for product visibility and buy box placement. Walmart’s marketplace, while growing rapidly, still offers sellers better odds of standing out and capturing customer attention.

The Technology and Brand Protection Advantage

Enhanced Discovery and Protection

Walmart’s AI-powered search and navigation improvements aren’t just customer-facing—they’re seller advantages. Better search functionality means improved product discoverability, while AI-driven recommendations can boost sales for sellers who optimize their listings correctly.

One of Amazon’s biggest seller pain points has been brand protection and counterfeit control. Walmart’s more curated marketplace approach, combined with their physical retail experience, typically results in better brand protection and fewer counterfeit issues.

How Eva Transforms Your Omnichannel Success

The Challenge of Dual-Platform Optimization

Managing simultaneous major sales events across Amazon and Walmart creates unprecedented complexity:

• Inventory Synchronization: Preventing stockouts on one platform while maintaining availability on another
• Pricing Strategy: Optimizing prices across platforms without violating MAP policies
• Advertising Coordination: Maximizing ROI across different advertising ecosystems
• Performance Analytics: Tracking unified metrics across multiple platforms

Eva’s Comprehensive Omnichannel Solution

Unified Platform Management: Eva’s full-service approach seamlessly coordinates your Amazon and Walmart strategies, ensuring you capture maximum profitable growth while the retail giants compete for market share.

AI-Powered Inventory Optimization: Our advanced forecasting algorithms analyze demand patterns across both platforms, preventing cannibalization while maximizing total revenue during peak shopping periods.

Dynamic Pricing Synchronization: Eva’s pricing system automatically coordinates your pricing strategy across platforms, ensuring optimal profitability while maintaining competitive positioning on both Amazon and Walmart.

Integrated Advertising Management: Our experts manage your advertising spend allocation between platforms, optimizing for total ROI rather than individual platform performance, maximizing your overall marketing efficiency.

Real-Time Performance Analytics: Eva provides unified reporting across both platforms, giving you complete visibility into your omnichannel performance with actionable insights for continuous optimization.

Walmart-Specific Optimization: Our team understands Walmart’s unique algorithm, customer behavior patterns, and optimization requirements, ensuring your Walmart strategy is as sophisticated as your Amazon approach.

Strategic Timing: The Early Access Advantage

Walmart+ members get early access starting July 7 at 7 p.m. ET, but sellers should view this as a testing ground for their promotional strategies. The early access period provides valuable data on customer response, pricing effectiveness, and inventory velocity before the main event begins.

This 17-hour window allows for real-time optimization that doesn’t exist in Amazon’s Prime Day structure—a tactical advantage that sophisticated sellers will leverage.

Long-Term Implications: The New Omnichannel Reality

Beyond One Week of Sales

This isn’t just about one week of sales—it’s about Walmart’s broader strategy to become a legitimate alternative to Amazon’s marketplace dominance. The company’s willingness to directly compete with Prime Day signals serious long-term commitment to growing their third-party seller ecosystem.

Risk Diversification Strategy

For sellers, this represents an opportunity to diversify platform risk while potentially improving profitability. Early adopters who establish strong positions on Walmart’s marketplace now could benefit significantly as the platform continues to grow and attract more customers.

The key question for sellers isn’t whether Walmart can compete with Amazon—it’s whether they can afford not to be part of Walmart’s growing ecosystem.

Action Plan: Preparing for the Battle

Immediate Steps for Sellers

As July 8 approaches, sellers need to:

1. Evaluate current Walmart marketplace presence
2. Compare fee structures and profit margins
3. Develop inventory allocation strategies
4. Create coordinated promotional campaigns
5. Establish performance tracking systems

The Competitive Advantage Timeline

Pre-Event (Now – July 7):

• Optimize listings on both platforms
• Coordinate inventory allocation
• Set up unified analytics tracking
• Plan advertising spend distribution

During Event (July 8-13):

• Monitor real-time performance across platforms
• Adjust pricing and advertising dynamically
• Manage inventory flow between platforms
• Capture competitive intelligence

Post-Event (July 14+):

• Analyze unified performance metrics
• Refine omnichannel strategy
• Plan for future coordinated events
• Optimize long-term platform mix

Conclusion: Winning the Omnichannel War

Walmart’s direct challenge to Amazon Prime Day represents more than retail competition—it’s the beginning of a new omnichannel reality where success requires sophisticated multi-platform strategy.

Two platforms. One massive opportunity. Are you ready to win everywhere?

The sellers who thrive won’t be those who choose sides, but those who master the art of omnichannel optimization. With lower fees on Walmart, established infrastructure on Amazon, and coordinated major shopping events, the opportunity for strategic sellers has never been greater.

Ready to dominate both battlefields? Eva’s full-service omnichannel management provides the technology, expertise, and strategic coordination needed to maximize your success across Amazon, Walmart, and beyond. From unified inventory management to coordinated advertising optimization, we ensure you capture maximum profitable growth while retail giants compete for market dominance.