Battle of the titans: Walmart and Amazon

Walmart and Amazon are both retail behemoths. The former dominates the bricks and mortar world, while the latter carries the biggest punch in the virtual one.

Now these two giants are set to do battle for control of the online grocery business. Who will win?

Both companies have advantages, according to an insight piece by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton business school.

Walmart’s pluses include its vast supplier network in the grocery trade. It can also turn thousands of stores into pickup points should it decide to go with a click and collect model in which consumers order online but pick up at a store.

Walmart isn't quite an online noobie either. It owns 51% of Yihaodian, China’s fastest growing online grocer.

Amazon, meanwhile, knows e-commerce better than anyone and has an established low-cost distribution model for making deliveries.

Then again, a third retailer could upset both Walmart’s and Amazon’s plans to dominate online grocery: Costco. The club-store is in an enviable position to sell groceries online, according to Wharton.

Read the full story here.