Which Company has the best shipping?
Amazon vs. Walmart.com
Back when we first moved back to the States, I ordered a lot of what we needed through eCommerce. The reason was that at that time we did not have a car! I was on foot, and walking to the store was a bit of a distance. On top of that, if I bought stuff in quantity or something that was heavy, it was a hassle to carry it home!
Because of this limitation, the best option was to order things online and have those things delivered to the house.
Primarily, I ordered the things we needed from either Amazon or from Walmart.com.
Back at that time, both Amazon and Walmart offered two-day shipping. I am a Prime Member with Amazon and have been for years.
Why have I been a Prime Member for years?
Yes, even when we lived in the Philippines, for the last few years, I paid for Amazon Prime membership.
Why?
For a couple of reasons.
Firstly, In 2017 and 2018, Feyma was spending about half of the year in the United States, mostly working in Alaska. During those times I would often order things for her and have those things delivered to her in Alaska. Of course, if you pay for a yearly membership to Amazon Prime, shipping on your Amazon orders is free.
Another reason I decided to become a Prime member is that I could watch Prime Video content in the Philippines.
After we bought a car
Once we bought a vehicle, I started ordering less online and just going to the store to purchase our needs. I found it a little more convenient, and also gave me a chance to enjoy my freedom behind the wheel. I had not driven for the past 5 years or so, and it was nice to have the freedom again.
The last few months
In the past few months, I have been pretty busy with work and other activities, so I started ordering more online again and relying on eCommerce for many of the things I needed.
One Day Shipping
Earlier this year, Amazon upped their game and instead of offering free 2-day shipping for Prime customers, they changed it to next-day shipping! This was really a nice benefit.
On the other hand, at first, Walmart.com continued offering two-day shipping. Another difference on Walmart shipping is that you have to pay a shipping charge unless you order more than $35 on your order.
Amazon Shipping
Over the course of the past 10 months or so, since we’ve been back in the States, Amazon has offered mostly reliable and on-time deliveries.
A couple of weeks after our move, I ordered a new PC from Amazon, and that was a few days late, but that order was during extreme weather (our high temperatures were around -15F with wind chills at -45). I could understand this order being a little late because of the extreme weather.
After Amazon went to one-day shipping it took a bit of time (maybe a couple of months) before the faster shipping was available in our area. We live in a small town in a rather rural area, so that is understandable.
But, once one-day shipping was in place for us, it was quite reliable.
In the past few weeks, I have ordered four times from Amazon, and three of those orders were one day late in delivery. Yeah, just one day late, but still that bothered me. I mean, I was paying money for my Prime membership, and Amazon should live up to the commitment they made in exchange for my Prime membership.
Walmart Delivery
Walmart has always done a poor job of living up to what they promise in terms of shipping.
Back in the days when they promised 2-day deliveries it usually took 3 to 5 days for my orders to be delivered.
Like Amazon, earlier this year, Walmart started offering next-day delivery. When they went to next-day delivery, most orders were faster than before, but still were generally delivered in 2 to 4 days. Too slow to compete with Amazon.
In the next few days, I will be writing a separate article about an extreme shipping experience I have had with Walmart over the past week.
Amazon vs. Walmart, who is best?
Well, based on my explanations above, it is clear. Amazon is much better at logistics/shipping/delivery than Walmart is. In my experience, over the time of my residence here in the USA, Amazon always beats Walmart.
I enjoy using eCommerce to fill as many of our needs as possible. It cuts out hassle and wasted time.
Things have changed so much during my absence from the USA, and eCommerce ordering and delivery to your door is one of the best changes!
I do not have Amazon Prime but I have always had good delivery times from them. If I order something on a weekend I usually have it by the following Wednesday. What I do like about Amazon is the variety of things they offer. I buy annual service parts for my oil burner furnace from them which are not always easily obtained locally, and their prices are more than reasonable, for name brand quality parts and supplies.
I have a Walmart about 8 miles from my house so I have seldom had the need to order online from them.
For twenty years I did maintenance and repair to parcel sorting machines for the USPS and always noticed plenty of Amazon parcels going through the machines but not so much for Walmart but then again Walmart has plenty of retail locations where Amazon as far as I know is only online.
The only thing I have to caution myself about Amazon or for that matter any other on line ordering is ” Window Shopping ” ( or should that be screen shopping ) and buying all kinds of stuff I could really do without but sometimes there are deals just too good to pass up especially on Ebay. LOL
Hi Bob – good to hear from you.
I have a Walmart about 2 miles away from the house, but especially when I didn’t have a car, that was too far to walk when carrying our purchases. LoL
Amazon does use USPS a lot for deliveries, and Walmart mostly uses FedEx, which I find terribly unreliable.
Once upon a time I wanted to purchase a 55” 4K smart TV. I had read good reviews on the TV, but I still wanted to see one. I believe in purchasing local if possible, because I like the service, usually easy to return service, and the thought I might need something locally. No one had sold that TV locally, except the local Walmart. Their online page said it was in stock.
I went to the local Walmart ready to shell out the coin, but when I got there they told me it wasn’t in stock. They did tell me they could order it delivered to my house within several days. They didn’t seem to understand the whole reason for my visit was to try to before buying it.
The end of the story is that I bought the TV from Amazon (I’m also a Prime member). It arrived two days later and I love the TV.
Based upon other experiences I’m beginning to believe Walmart is getting more and more like KMart and less concerned about their service. And we know what happened to KMart.
Hi Tony – You did exactly what I would have done. I like to buy locally for the same reasons (although our local options are very limited). If they don’t have it (especially when they are supposed to), I’m moving on. 😉