Amazon Prime is typically the first thing that comes to mind when you think of free shipping, member discounts, and special benefits. However, did you know that Walmart offers a comparable subscription service that rivals Prime, even though they claim it's not meant to?
We will discuss Walmart+ in detail in this article, along with its features, advantages, and comparison to Amazon Prime.
In this article you will learn:
- Walmart Plus: What Is It?
- What Advantages Does Walmart Plus Offer?
- Unlimited and Free Delivery Services
- Special Access and Membership Offers
- Scan & Go on Your Phone
- Benefits and Gasoline Discounts
- What Is the Cost of a Walmart+ Membership?
- Walmart plus VS. Amazon Prime
- Is Walmart Plus Valuable?
- Do I Need to Stop Using Amazon Prime for Walmart+?
- Conclusions
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Walmart Plus: What Is It?
Launched in 2020, Walmart+, also known as Walmart Plus, is an additional subscription service for shopping at Walmart. It offers a variety of benefits to members, much like Amazon Prime did when it first launched in 2005.
Despite Walmart's insistence that Walmart+ was intended to be a stand-alone offering rather than a rival to Prime, the two services essentially share the same business model and member benefits, such as cashier less checkout and free unlimited delivery. The main benefits that make subscribing to Walmart+ worthwhile are discussed in the following section.
Related-must read: A closer look at the History of Walmart: Timeline and Facts
What Advantages Does Walmart Plus Offer?
The main advantages of Walmart Plus are free, limitless grocery delivery, fuel savings, in-store cashier less shopping, and even streaming service access. Please take note that this is not an exhaustive list, as Walmart intends to add more features to better serve its customers.
Related-must read: Walmart Plus & Its Benefits: The ultimate guide
Unlimited and Free Delivery Services
With its more than 5,000 retail locations and online marketplace, Walmart+ subscribers can shop for groceries, household essentials, and other products and have them delivered to their doorstep for free. For the majority of its products, there are also no minimum order requirements, which is especially helpful for members who enjoy shopping in bulk or sniping deals for their retail arbitrage businesses.
Special Access and Membership Offers
Members of Walmart Plus have access to special member prices on thousands of goods offered on the platform. These costs are usually less than what is offered to non-members, adding even more value to the membership.
Walmart recently expanded the benefits of its membership package to include the Paramount+ streaming service; access to the company's in-house Prime Video streaming service is already provided by Amazon Prime.
Scan & Go on Your Phone
Walmart+ members who prefer in-store shopping have access to the Walmart app's Mobile Scan & Go feature, which enables you to scan items as you shop and check them out without having to wait in line. Do you recognize this? The "just walk out" technology found in Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores is essentially the same. Amazon, on the other hand, only has a few physical stores in a few select areas as of this writing. Walmart, on the other hand, has a significant physical footprint across the US due to its legacy status as a brick and mortar retailer.
Benefits and Gasoline Discounts
Members of Walmart Plus can get nationwide gas station discounts of up to 10 cents per gallon at Walmart, Exon, Mobil, and Murphy USA. Many of Walmart+'s subscribers find that this feature alone makes the service worthwhile, especially for those who drive frequently or large vehicles. This is especially true in light of the rising rates of inflation and general unpredictability in various industries following the pandemic.
What Is the Cost of a Walmart+ Membership?
A Walmart+ membership currently costs $12.95 per month or $98 annually. There is a 30-day free trial available. It is somewhat less expensive than Amazon Prime, to be sure, but as you'll see from the next section, its feature set is also less extensive.
Walmart plus VS. Amazon Prime
There are significant differences between Walmart+ and Amazon Prime that may persuade you to choose one over the other, despite the fact that their business models and shopping perks are very similar. Of course, you are free to subscribe to both services and take full advantage of your individual memberships. Here are some characteristics that distinguish them to aid in your decision:
According to the comparison above, Amazon Prime is substantially more expensive than Walmart+, which is much newer, but it also provides members with more perks, such as access to exclusive media content from Amazon's media division and a retail ecosystem connected to its extensive Amazon FBA fulfillment network. Despite Walmart's efforts, Amazon still has a significant advantage over it when it comes to fulfillment and streaming services.
On the other hand, if you can live without access to entertainment content and are only interested in the free grocery deliveries and gas discounts, Walmart's lower prices might be a big selling point.
Both services are virtually neck and neck in terms of technology when it comes to ease of shopping, but Walmart has far more physical stores than Amazon, so it has far more clout.
Is Walmart Plus Valuable?
Purchasing a Walmart+ membership is well worth the money for many reasons. It includes free shipping with no minimum purchase amount, discounts on various products, and its own subscription service.
Walmart disagreed that its Walmart+ membership serves as a means of competing with Amazon Prime, but the lower monthly fees should cause any consumer to second-guess their choice of where to shop.
Do I Need to Stop Using Amazon Prime for Walmart+?
Your needs and preferences as a customer will determine which subscription is best for you. Walmart+ is an excellent choice if you're looking for regular, reasonably priced fuel discounts, household necessities, and grocery shopping (online or in-store). Conversely, Amazon Prime is perfect if you shop virtually exclusively online for a wide range of products outside of groceries and are more interested in the perks like access to unique entertainment content.
Another way to look at it is that, starting in 2024, Amazon Prime will be tailored to member perks plus needs, while Walmart+ will be tailored to needs. Nevertheless, there's always the option to subscribe to both and try to maximize the benefits of your individual memberships.
Conclusions
Walmart+ is a great reminder that there are other players in the various industries that Amazon operates in, even though it is a relatively new offering. For customers who regularly shop at Walmart, the subscription service is perfect, and at $12.95, the savings can mount up over time. As its membership increases, the company is also offering more and more benefits.
