No big surprise – Amazon simply ruled Thanksgiving shopping, accounting for 55% of online sales in the US on Black Friday and 45.1% on Thanksgiving Day.
Online sales data from research firm Hitwise provides an interesting snapshot of the competitive e-commerce marketplace.
The firm reports the top 50 retailers handled more than 39.8 million online transactions with 13.0 million on Black Friday and 12.5 million sales on Thanksgiving Day.
Amazon alone handled 7.14 million sales on Black Friday and 5.64 million sales on Thanksgiving Day.
Amazon rules, others drool
While other retailers are making progress with online sales, what’s impressive is how big a gap remains between Amazon and everyone else.
2017 Black Friday online sales
| Retailer | Transactions | Share |
| Amazon.com | 7,139,727 | 54.9% |
| Walmart.com | 1,193,003 | 8.8% |
| Best Buy.com | 646,066 | 5.0% |
| Kohls.com | 438,728 | 3.4% |
| Target.com | 423,441 | 3.3% |
| Apple.com | 241,248 | 1.9% |
| Macys.com | 209,742 | 1.6% |
| OldNavy.com | 192,576 | 1.5% |
| HomeDepot.com | 182,774 | 1.4% |
| ToysRUs.com | 170,104 | 1.3% |
| Source: Hitwise |
Amazon had nearly six times the number of sales online compared with Walmart which had nearly twice as many sales as its nearest competitor Best Buy on Black Friday.
A look at Thanksgiving Day sales provides another interesting perspective on the e-commerce holiday sales landscape.
2017 Thanksgiving Day online sales
| Retailer | Transactions | Share |
| Amazon.com | 5,637,439 | 45.1% |
| Walmart.com | 1,736,749 | 13.9% |
| Best Buy.com | 1,036,403 | 8.3% |
| Target.com | 649,044 | 5.2% |
| Kohls.com | 603,807 | 4.8% |
| ToysRUs.com | 175,541 | 1.4% |
| Macys.com | 172,647 | 1.4% |
| Costco.com | 161,599 | 1.3% |
| GameStop.com | 160,908 | 1.3% |
| HomeDepot.com | 137,475 | 1.1% |
| Lowes.com | 137,421 | 1.1% |
| Source: Hitwise |
Again, Amazon dominated Thanksgiving Day online sales with 45.1% but Walmart did much stronger than on Black Friday with 13.9% of sales as did Best Buy at 8.3%.
Costco, GameStop and Lowes were in the sales picture on Thanksgiving Day but dropped off on Black Friday amid the heavy competition.
Walmart competes on price with Amazon
Reuters reported Walmart is closing the gap on prices with Amazon online, averaging only 0.3% higher than Amazon during 2017 compared to 3% higher in 2016.
Shoppers take note. In the following categories, Walmart was cheaper than Amazon online: wearables, headphones, TVs, toys and games and sports and outdoors.
Strategic Resources Group research in Texas showed Walmart has dropped prices that were between 5% and 12% higher last year to match prices with Amazon in that state.
Walmart also added free, two-day shipping to compete better with Amazon Prime services.
Overall, analysts estimate Walmart invested more than $1 billion to compete with Amazon.com prices across a wide range of products and we expect even more intense competition next year.
As it stands today, Amazon is still the King in the e-commerce of thrones.
Read more about Thanksgiving online shopping sales results on Reuters and Retail Dive.