Sold on Walmart, Sent by Amazon: The Weird New World of Online Retail

Amazon's logistics network will now fulfill orders placed on Walmart.com, the company announced at its Accelerate seller conference, creating a surreal arrangement where the e-commerce giant directly supports its biggest retail rival's online operations. Third-party sellers can now use Amazon's Multichannel Fulfillment service to automatically process Walmart orders through direct integration. The packages arrive in unbranded boxes since Walmart prohibits Amazon-branded deliveries to its customers. Amazon VP Dharmesh Mehta told GeekWire the system automatically routes any Walmart order through Amazon's fulfillment network. The service expansion includes upcoming Shein integration and existing support for eBay, Etsy, and Temu. Amazon's third-party seller services generated $156 billion in 2024 revenue. The company now competes directly against ShipBob, FedEx, UPS, and ironically Walmart's own fulfillment services while positioning itself as an end-to-end logistics provider regardless of where the sale originates.

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