Nearly a decade has passed since Amazon eclipsed its biggest rival, Walmart, in profitability, but the online retail giant has yet to dethrone the big-box titan as the nation’s leading grocer.
That’s because Amazon’s iterative approach to creating the grocery store of the future amounts to little more than a never-ending test lab that fails to inspire loyalty in its customers. And its new model is essentially imitating its biggest competitor.
Amazon’s latest push to dominate the US grocery market hinges on a strategy of launching massive physical stores designed to double as fulfillment centers for its vast online retail portal. The inaugural supercenter is planned for the Chicago suburb of Orland Park in 2027.
Roughly half of the building will serve as a warehouse distribution center, while the other will operate like a Walmart, selling both groceries and non-food merchandise. While the building in its entirety dwarfs the size of a typical Walmart Supercenter (those are typically around 178,000 square feet), using only half of the building’s capacity as a storefront puts it closer to the size of an average Target (around 125,000 square feet).
The yet-to-be-named new Amazon store is just the beginning of a larger strategy, according to a Business Insider report in January that cites internal documents outlining plans for a major rollout of the new concept in the coming years.
That includes a sub-same-day, or SSD, supercenter model that fulfills orders within about four hours, according to Business Insider. “Unlike traditional SSD warehouses that tend to be smaller, these facilities are designed to be larger to close the selection gap, specifically with ‘Walmart’ in groceries,” according to the article.
Amazon already appears to be behind schedule, according to documents obtained by Business Insider. The company aimed to open five of the SSD supercenters last year. Amazon also plans to launch the model in Europe under an initiative known as Project Taylor.
The retail giant aims to dig in further in the UK with with a pilot project in London for “ultrafast” deliveries in under two hours. While all of this sounds like a force to be reckoned with from the online retail juggernaut, it seems unlikely to put much pressure on Walmart.
The supercenter concept follows Amazon’s abandonment of a more than decade-long effort to challenge the industry with its own pure-play grocery and convenience stores under the Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go banners.
That chapter came to a close for Amazon earlier this year when it shuttered its final grocery and convenience store locations in the UK and North America. Just another headstone in the graveyard of Amazon grocery disruption ideas that also includes Just Walk Out Technology at Amazon stores.
Is Whole Foods Market next? An Amazon spokesperson recently said in an email that the company is full steam ahead on grocery, and the Go and Fresh closures don’t indicate a retreat.
“While we are closing Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, we’re accelerating our online grocery delivery services – same-day delivery of fresh groceries is now available in 2,300-plus cities and towns, and we’ll expand to many more areas across the US in 2026. We’re also expanding Whole Foods Market with 100-plus new stores planned,” they said.
Similarly, Amazon planned to open dozens of Amazon Fresh locations a few years ago and found itself facing a number of lawsuits instead when they backed out on communities across the US without notice or explanation. Consumers remember that these kinds of moves show a company cares less about customers than it does about crushing its opponents.
Throughout all of this, Walmart is trying to replicate Amazon’s online business in the same way Amazon dreams of building its own brick-and-mortar presence. Most recently, the Bentonville, Ark.-based US grocery leader took the online battle for online shoppers to Europe, where it is now recruiting businesses to join its online marketplace, according to a story in Mass Market Retailers.
“UK and European businesses have a well-earned reputation for quality, innovation and exceptional design. By partnering with Walmart, sellers can bring those strengths to millions of customers in the US, Canada, Mexico and Chile – all with the speed, scale and support that only Walmart can provide. We’re excited to work side-by-side with these sellers to unlock new opportunities and help them grow faster than ever before,” said Andrea Albright, Walmart International executive vice president and chief growth officer.
It’s a clever tactic as neither Walmart nor Amazon come close to controlling European grocery sales, and it’s another inroad for companies scaling into international markets.
