Amazon vs Walmart: Whose Brand Portfolio Is Bigger?

Amazon and Walmart are the two largest retailers in the United States and among the largest in the world. Their competition for consumer spending has driven some of the most significant shifts in retail over the past two decades. But underneath the marketplace and store fronts, both companies have built substantial portfolios of owned brands, private labels, and acquired businesses that extend far beyond what most consumers recognize.

Amazon reported net sales of approximately $638 billion for FY2024, while Walmart reported net sales of approximately $681 billion for its fiscal year ending January 2025. At this scale, both companies wield extraordinary influence over consumer brands through their retail platforms. But the question of which company has built the larger portfolio of brands it actually owns, rather than simply sells, reveals a more complex picture.

Amazon's Owned Brand Portfolio

Amazon has built its brand empire through a combination of organic private label development, major acquisitions, and technology platform brands that have become household names in their own right.

Major Acquisitions

Whole Foods Market was acquired in June 2017 for approximately $13.7 billion. It remains Amazon's largest consumer-facing retail brand acquisition and its primary physical grocery presence with approximately 500 stores across the US, UK, and Canada. Whole Foods operates under its own brand, carrying the "365 by Whole Foods Market" private label and maintaining its premium positioning.

Ring was acquired in February 2018 for approximately $1 billion. Ring makes video doorbells, home security cameras, and smart home devices. It operates as a wholly owned subsidiary and is distributed through Amazon's retail channels.

Twitch was acquired in August 2014 for approximately $970 million. Twitch is the dominant live video streaming platform for gaming and esports content with over 35 million daily active users as of 2025.

Audible was acquired in January 2008 for approximately $300 million. Audible is the world's largest audiobook and spoken word content platform, with over 600,000 titles. It operates as a subscription service and is deeply integrated with Amazon's Prime ecosystem.

MGM Studios was acquired in March 2022 for approximately $8.45 billion, giving Amazon's Prime Video service access to one of Hollywood's oldest content libraries including the James Bond franchise, Rocky, and thousands of film and television titles.

Amazon's Technology Platform Brands

Alexa is Amazon's voice assistant and the brand identity for its Echo smart speaker product line. Alexa has become one of the most widely deployed voice AI systems globally, embedded in Amazon's own devices and licensed to third-party device manufacturers.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is not a consumer brand in the traditional sense but is Amazon's most profitable division, generating approximately $107 billion in revenue for FY2024 with an operating margin significantly above the retail segment.

Amazon's Private Label Brands

Amazon operates an extensive private label program under numerous brand names including AmazonBasics (electronics, household goods), Amazon Essentials (apparel), Solimo (household and health products), Presto! (cleaning products), Happy Belly (food), and Mama Bear (baby products). Amazon has faced regulatory scrutiny for allegedly using third-party seller data to develop competing private label products, and the company has reduced its private label investment somewhat since 2022 in response to that scrutiny.

Walmart's Owned Brand Portfolio

Walmart has a different ownership architecture. Unlike Amazon, which has made many large-scale technology and media acquisitions, Walmart's brand ownership is weighted toward retail private labels and strategic equity stakes in retail technology companies.

Walmart's Private Label Brands

Walmart operates one of the largest private label programs in global retail, with brands spanning virtually every grocery and household category.

• Great Value covers food and household essentials and is one of the best-recognized private label brands in the US
• Equate covers health, beauty, and personal care products
• Mainstays covers home furnishings and decor
• No Boundaries and George cover apparel
• Parent's Choice covers baby products
• Sam's Choice covers premium food items
• Marketside covers fresh prepared foods

Walmart's private label penetration in grocery is estimated at approximately 20-25% of total food and consumables revenue, generating tens of billions in annual revenue that does not flow to national brand manufacturers.

Sam's Club

Sam's Club is Walmart's membership warehouse club, operating separately from the core Walmart banner with its own "Member's Mark" private label brand. Sam's Club generated approximately $86 billion in revenue for Walmart's FY2025, making it one of the most significant membership-based retail formats in the country.

Flipkart

Walmart acquired a majority stake in Flipkart, India's largest e-commerce company, in 2018 for approximately $16 billion. Flipkart operates independently under its own brand in India and owns PhonePe, a major Indian digital payments platform. Flipkart gives Walmart a significant position in one of the world's fastest-growing consumer markets without operating under the Walmart banner.

Hayneedle and Jet.com (former holdings)

Walmart acquired Jet.com in 2016 for approximately $3.3 billion and shut it down in 2020 after failing to integrate its technology effectively with Walmart.com. This is widely considered one of Walmart's most expensive strategic failures in e-commerce.

Head-to-Head Comparison

The Private Label Battle

Private label is where both companies most directly compete with each other and with national consumer goods brands. Both Amazon and Walmart use their scale and data to develop private label products at lower price points than branded equivalents.

Walmart's private label has deeper penetration in physical grocery, where Great Value and Equate products occupy premium shelf positions and benefit from decades of consumer recognition. Amazon's private label has faced more regulatory headwinds and has pulled back from aggressive expansion, though its AmazonBasics and Amazon Essentials lines remain significant in electronics accessories and apparel respectively.

Neither company discloses consolidated private label revenue, but industry estimates suggest Walmart generates $50-80 billion annually from its private label programs across categories, while Amazon's private label revenue is estimated at $10-25 billion.

The Retail Media Dimension

Both companies have built significant advertising businesses that allow consumer brands to pay for prominence on their digital platforms. Amazon Advertising generated approximately $56 billion in FY2024, making it the third-largest digital advertising platform globally behind Google and Meta. Walmart Connect is smaller but growing rapidly as Walmart's digital traffic increases.

These advertising businesses give both Amazon and Walmart leverage over the brands sold through their platforms: national brands must either invest in retail media spending to maintain visibility or risk being displaced by private label alternatives. This dynamic has significantly shifted the power balance between retailers and consumer goods manufacturers in ways that were not anticipated when companies like P&G and Unilever built their brand strategies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Amazon own Whole Foods? Yes. Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market in June 2017 for approximately $13.7 billion. Whole Foods operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon and maintains approximately 500 stores across the US, UK, and Canada under the Whole Foods Market brand. Amazon has integrated Whole Foods into its Prime membership program, offering Prime members discounts and same-day delivery from Whole Foods stores.

What private label brands does Walmart own? Walmart operates numerous private label brands including Great Value (food and household essentials), Equate (health and beauty), Mainstays (home), No Boundaries and George (apparel), Parent's Choice (baby), Sam's Choice (premium food), and Marketside (fresh prepared food). These brands are sold exclusively at Walmart and Sam's Club locations.

Does Walmart own any international companies? Yes. Walmart's most significant international owned brand is Flipkart, India's largest e-commerce platform, in which Walmart holds a majority stake acquired for approximately $16 billion in 2018. Walmart also operates international retail under the Walmart banner in Canada, Mexico (Walmart de Mexico, in which Walmart holds a majority stake), Central America, China, and other markets.

What is Amazon's most profitable owned brand or service? Amazon Web Services (AWS) is Amazon's most profitable business unit, generating approximately $107 billion in revenue for FY2024 at operating margins significantly above the retail segment. Among Amazon's consumer-facing owned brands, the Alexa/Echo platform and Prime Video content platform generate significant value but are not separately reported with standalone profitability disclosures.

Are Amazon and Walmart's private label brands manufactured by the same companies as national brands? Often yes. Many private label products are manufactured by the same factories and sometimes the same companies that produce national brand equivalents, using similar or identical formulations with different branding and packaging. This is particularly common in household consumables, over-the-counter health products, and food staples. Neither Amazon nor Walmart typically discloses its contract manufacturing partners.

Explore Related Brands

• Whole Foods - Grocery retailer owned by Amazon
• Ring - Smart home brand owned by Amazon
• Alexa - Voice AI platform owned by Amazon
• Twitch - Live streaming platform owned by Amazon
• Audible - Audiobook platform owned by Amazon

Browse all retail brand ownership profiles →

Sources

1. Amazon Annual Report 2024 — https://ir.aboutamazon.com 2. Walmart Annual Report FY2025 — https://stock.walmart.com/investors 3. SEC Filing — Amazon Whole Foods acquisition — https://www.sec.gov 4. Bloomberg — Walmart Flipkart acquisition 2018 — https://www.bloomberg.com 5. eMarketer — Amazon Advertising Revenue 2024 — https://www.emarketer.com 6. Incrementum Digital — Walmart vs Amazon market share 2025 — https://incrementumdigital.com

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com's research methodology. Last updated: March 11, 2026.