VERIFIED VOICES SPOTLIGHT
Top retailers’ heaviest buyers: what they’re saying and how they differ.
Numerator’s Verified Voices surveys are built on actual purchase data, removing the need for unreliable screeners and reducing recall bias. Using our purchase panel, we surveyed over 6,000 heavy shoppers (defined as the top 33% of households by total item spend in Household, Grocery, Health & Beauty, Pet categories) at Amazon, Target and Walmart.
Read on to discover what drives these shoppers’ behaviors and how Verified Voices surveys can make your next retailer meeting more impactful.
How shopping habits are shifting for heavy buyers
In response to economic uncertainty and waning consumer sentiment, some heavy shoppers at Amazon, Target, and Walmart have changed the way they shop at their respective retailer:
- Nearly a third (31%) of Heavy Target shoppers say they bought less in general, followed by 27% of Heavy Walmart shoppers and 26% of Heavy Amazon shoppers.
- 24% of Heavy Walmart shoppers bought lower priced brands – significantly more compared to their Amazon (17%) and Target (17%) counterparts.
- Compared to Amazon (8%) and Target (14%), Heavy Walmart shoppers (19%) have significantly shifted their shopping habits to buying more store brands / private label brands.
Looking ahead at the next few months, heavy shoppers of each retailer plan to:
- Focus more on findings sales / deals: Amazon (31%), Target (31%), and Walmart (27%)
- Stick to essential purchases only: Amazon (22%), Target (22%), and Walmart (24%)
The occasions heavy buyers plan to shop their respective retailer
Heavy shoppers plan to buy across a variety of upcoming occasions, especially major holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. However, each retailer shows distinct strengths tied to specific events:
- Amazon stands out for its tentpole events – 55% of Heavy Amazon shoppers plan to shop Prime Day and 40% expect to shop Cyber Week with Amazon – far ahead of Target (24%) and Walmart (15%).
- Target captures the Back-to-School occasion – 31% of Heavy Target shoppers plan to shop Back-to-School at Target.
- Walmart is a clear destination for Thanksgiving – 44% of Heavy Walmart shoppers plan to stock up for Thanksgiving at Walmart, significantly more than respective Amazon (14%) and Target (23%) shoppers.
Where heavy buyers find shopping inspiration online
Heavy shoppers often look to online platforms and tools for inspiration, with Facebook, search engines, and retailer websites or apps among the most commonly used. While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is still a niche source today, its influence is expected to grow as adoption increases.
Across the major retailers, Heavy Walmart shoppers (33%) stand out for not using online tools for shopping inspiration compared to Heavy Amazon (23%) and Heavy Target shoppers (24%).
Where heavy buyers prefer to shop by category
Amazon’s heavy shoppers show a clear preference for the retailer in Cosmetics & Beauty (38%), but Amazon struggles to maintain that strength across other key categories. Target performs well in Personal Care (51%) and sees strong loyalty in Cosmetics & Beauty (47%) from its heavy shoppers. Walmart stands out with broad, cross-category strength—earning top preference from its heavy shoppers in Food (72%), Beverages (72%), Personal Care (72%), and Cosmetics & Beauty (52%).
How retailers’ biggest spenders feel about their retailer’s tariff response
Among the three retailers, 41% of Heavy Amazon shoppers say they’re satisfied with how Amazon communicates about tariffs, compared to 35% for Target and just 29% for Walmart. These results point to an opportunity for all retailers to improve messaging and maintain shopper confidence during uncertain times.
About the survey methodology
This survey was conducted via Numerator’s Verified Voices platform between June 16-18, 2025, targeting Heavy Buyers from Amazon (N=2,004), Target (N=2,002), and Walmart (N=2,000) in the past three months. Heavy Buyers were defined based on Numerator’s panel data and Heavy, Medium, Light insights report, representing the top 33% of household by total item spend across Grocery, Household, Health & Beauty, and Pet sectors during the prior complete three month period from February 1 to May 1, 2025.