The highest number of respondents to the January survey by Feedvisor - 29 percent - said they planned to expand their sales to Walmart.com in 2017, an indication of growing interest in the channel. However the survey also found that just 9 percent of those currently selling on Amazon are also using Walmart.com, compared to 65 percent who said they also sell on eBay.
Ohad Hagai, vice president of marketing for Feedvisor, said Walmart’s investments in e-commerce properties, plus the fact that participation in its marketplace is no longer by invitation only, have made it a more popular choice for merchants.
“Amazon is leading by far, but Walmart is the one that from an infrastructure standpoint is most likely to compete if anyone can,” Hagai said. “They realized the potential of their marketplace, which is why they’ve put so much money into it. When it was invite only they were just going after the big sellers, and now they’re opening it up. With the requirements now less strict, more sellers are going there.”
Another interesting finding from the survey was the fact that nearly all Amazon businesses run on a skeleton crew. Feedvisor found that 84 percent of Amazon sellers have just one to five employees. This is not surprising as many of them use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Two percent of respondents reported they had more than 50 employees.
