by jilian donfro afer a stellar q2 earnings report on thursday that sent its stock flying amazon hit a huge milestone if officially became more valuable than the biggest retailer in the world walmart when markets closed on friday amazon had a market cap of 24654 billion vs walmarts 23053 billion cap although walmarts overall sales are much bigger than amazons this unprecedented value swap underscores the fact that the 53yearold retailer is getting smoked when it comes to ecommerce in 2014 walmarts online sales were 122 billion compared to amazons 89 billion even though amazon has about a twentieth of walmarts total scale its online business is growing faster overall investors recognize the importance of online commerce for any modern day retailer consumers are getting accustomed to the convenience of buying things online and new services such as sameday delivery and automated ordering will only reinforce that habit online shopping has consistently seen a bigger salessurge than brickandmortar the share of ecommerce as a percent of total retail sales rose from 6 per cent in 1999 to 7 per cent at the beginning of 2015 with quarterly increases of 37 per cent on average versus 11 per cent for total sales walmart isnt sitting still amid this shifting landscape and the clash between two retail juggernauts is shaping up to be an epic showdown walmart said in february that it will pour between 12 and 15 billion into its ecommerce business this year its launching a shoppers club similar to amazon prime that will charge members a yearly fee for free shipping and has vowed to make its website more userfriendly with a greater selection of products in april walmartcom only offered only 11 per cent as many products as amazoncom the company also started requiring users to create accounts on its site so that it can gather data and make better product recommendations it already offers sameday grocery delivery similar to amazon fresh in five cities forrester research analyst sucharita mulpuru told business insider that she expects walmart will eventually achieve an online shopping experience thats as good as amazons even if it never catches up in dollars spent online although its not uncommon for brickandmortar retailers to get 20 per cent of their revenue from online these days she wouldnt bet on walmart reaching that level i dont think walmart will hit that because its core customer isnt the most wired or tech savvy shopper out there she said via email but to expect 10 per cent i think would be reasonable walmarts online business still has long way to go before it hits the 10 per cent level despite walmarts significant investment in ecommerce online revenue is still only a tiny 25 per cent sliver of the companys total sales amazon meanwhile is expanding its sphere of influence the company is now a leading clothing retailer with analysts estimating it could surpass macys as the top apparel business by 2017 it has a line of premium