I think this raises an interesting point, the raison d'etre for Walmart is providing value to customers above all other metrics, low prices, wide, but not infin

I think this raises an interesting point, the raison d'etre for Walmart is providing value to customers above all other metrics, low prices, wide, but not infinite selection, and a modicum of convenience. Conversely raison d'etre for Amazon is convenience, you can get anything, order it at any time, and have it within a couple days - it may not be the lowest price, or the best value you can buy - but it will end up being your first choice because of the low friction interactions Amazon offers. As soon as interactions with Amazon start to exceed the combined convenience/value metric offered by other outlets, business will move to those other outlets - particularly more so for those with disposable income (particularly notable with the issue of counterfeit of fraudulent items). As a note, while I don't fully disagree Walmart is one of the 'most successful social welfare institutions ever implemented' - I would never frame it in that context, because Walmart pushes the costs for the value it creates externally - in essence Walmart is subsidized indirectly by the state and its various welfare organs, it passes much of that subsidy back onto its customers - but like any indirect subsidy, its highly a highly inefficient way of going about this, and creates all sorts of undesired effects at the same time - for example, it undermines the whole point of many of the social welfare programs it benefits from thru indirect subsidy.