Amazon remains the cheapest e-commerce platform in the U.S. for five consecutive years

According to foreign media reports, the fifth annual "US Price War" research report of e-commerce analysis company Profitero stated that Amazon has become the " cheapest " e-commerce platform in the United States for the fifth consecutive year .

The report analyzed the prices of 15,530 products in 15 categories on 12 leading U.S. e-commerce platforms (including Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Home Depot, and Walmart) over a 12-week period from July 12 to October 3, 2021. The final results showed that the prices of products on the Amazon platform were 14% lower on average than those on the other 11 e-commerce platforms .

Amazon’s most price-competitive categories compared to other platforms include electronics, where prices are 13% cheaper than Best Buy, Target and Walmart on average ; video games, where prices are 15% cheaper than Target and Walmart; and toys and games, where prices are 11% cheaper than Home Depot, Macy’s, Target and Walmart.

Walmart has the closest average price to Amazon products , with the average price of its platform products within 4% of Amazon , down one percentage point from 2020. It is understood that Walmart is most competitive in beauty products, food and beverages, and home furniture, and the average price of these products is within 1% of Amazon .

With the exception of Walmart, other e-commerce platforms can only approach Amazon's prices in some categories of products. For example, Chewy has been on par with Amazon in terms of prices for pet food and supplies for three consecutive years . Home Depot's price difference with Amazon in tools and home improvement supplies is within 4% , which is 4 percentage points lower than in 2020 ; the price difference in electrical appliances, home furniture, sports and outdoor products is also within 5%.

“Supply issues and rising manufacturing costs will make the 2021 holiday season the most expensive ever , ” said Sarah   Hofstetter said. “We found that online prices have increased by nearly 6% since October last year, while for some categories such as fashion and home furnishings, the average price has increased by nearly 9% and 11% respectively . Consumers often need to shop around to find a bargain. ”

Large platforms such as Amazon and Walmart have advantages in cost and supply chain, which enable them to offer lower prices to consumers. In the competition with other platforms, these large platforms can rely on price wars to gain greater advantages.

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E-commerce