Walmart+ has now officially become Amazon Prime’s newest rival by offering same-day delivery and exclusive discounts. Although their subscription fee represents a lower annual expense compared to Amazon Prime, we would have to analyze if it is actually worth it.
In this article we’ll explain everything you can get for the Walmart+ subscription. Read on!
What is Walmart+?
Subscribing to Walmart+ will cost you $98 dollars ($8.17/month) if you pay annually, or $12.95 per month if you decide to subscribe monthly.
They offer a 15-day trial for those still undecided. It basically includes sweet early deals, think about Amazon’s Prime Early Access. That’s $21 dollars less than Amazon Prime per year, or its $13 fee per month which includes Amazon Music Unlimited, Amazon Prime and fast shipping for a wide range of products.
Source: Walmart+
How much does it cost?
As mentioned above you can decide to pay for the annual subscription for $98 dollars or you can choose to pay for monthly services for $12.95 per month, which adds up to $155.40 annually. Walmart+ is now available for a 15 day free-trial so you can decide I fits worth it.
What services can you get?
Walmart+ is decided to be a competition to Amazon Prime with its promise of respecting the same prices as in the store plus their Delivery Unlimited option as well as same-day delivery on over 160,000 items.
In a nutshell, all products you can find at a Walmart store you can now get at your front door without any extra charges.
They also has decided to up their game by getting rid of the required $35 minimum. For groceries, they still consider the minimum fee, but you can forget about it for most of the other products.
The truth is that you still get a wider range of benefits for the Amazon Prime membership, but Walmart is expecting to increase the variety of their catalog in the future.
Related content: How Can Walmart Connect Help Advertisers?
Is Walmart+ Worth It?
It all comes down to whether you live close enough to a Walmart physical store to actually qualify for delivery and how often you can take advantage of the deliveries.
The pandemic has demanded from most businesses at least to have an online presence and the Company is willing to bet for practices rising from coronavirus. They recently partnered with a grocery delivery service called Instacart to be able to provide same-day delivery services starting September 15th.
It is no secret that this is to face Amazon’s deal with Whole Foods.
NBC News announced that Walmart is in plans of testing drones to deliver groceries and other household items. Walmart+ has the potential of becoming really beneficial for online shoppers, especially from those willing to avoid crowd on 2021’s holiday seasons, because Walmart+ comes with a convenient list of benefit.
Advantages of Walmart+
Members not only get the perks of shopping online, but also get benefits from Walmart-owned companies.
Users can get access to the following:
- Unlimited deliveries for free, and no order minimum. All you need to do is making sure you spend at least$35 in each order. Also, you have to make sure you’re actually a candidate for delivery services. You can verify your address here to make sure you can get the service.
- Member prices on fuel stations. With Walmart+ membership you can get savings for up to five cents per gallon. You can get this discount at Walmart, Murphy USA and Murphy Express fuel stations. Eventually, Sam’s Club gas stations will also include the discount from Walmat+ membership.
- Scan and go. This is a new feature that enables in-store shoppers to scan and pay for products to save time as they shop. If you’re a customer using Scan and go, then you just need to finalize your payment at a self-checkout register. With social distancing rules in place, this is a very convenient addition, and they affirm that all locations offer scan-and-go.
How does Walmart+ compete with Amazon Prime?
The biggest competition for Walmart+ so far continues to be Amazon Prime. It is a platform where users have access to benefits like free two-day and even one-day shipping on specific items, plus access to Prime Video, Twitch, Amazon Pantry, Amazon Fresh and more. Of course, these benefits are not for free and Amazon Prime has an additional cost that is $119 per year. Amazon does offer a student discount to get Amazon Prime for six months without any charge.
Walmart Plus is stull limited if you compare it to Amazon Prime on the surface. However, shoppers still should at least consider trying out both memberships. This service still has way more store fronts than Amazon, so the main benefit is for users that can get mobile scan & go and discounts on fuel, which are unique.
Amazon recently launched Amazon Fresh and Amazon Pantry specifically for groceries. Still, Walmart+ has better logistics and can get your order sent in a single shipping instead of getting numerous orders all over the place.
Walmart online is still available without a subscription for tech and office essentials to furniture, kitchen appliances and more.
Source: NBC News
Additional benefits
As mentioned above, users can get access to unlimited free deliveries, and for eligible items, same-day deliveries. Plus, the minimum $35 fee to get free shipping is a thing of the past. Also, previous subscribers to Delivery Unlimited automatically get enrolled in Walmart+.
Usually, deliveries would cost customers between $7.95 and $9.95. If you sign up, all fees are waived.
- Scan&Go in Walmart stores. This feature is to provide users a touch-free payment experience each time they shop, which is really relevant with pandemic measures still widely implemented.
- Fuel discounts. Something that Amazon Prime definitely does not offer. You can save up to five cents per gallon at almost every Walmart-owned fuel station.
- Walmart’s supply chain. Overall, Walmart’s biggest advantage is its supply chain. If they commit to the promises they are making to compete with Amazon Prime, most users won’t hesitate at least to get their groceries from Walmart instead of Amazon Fresh or Amazon Pantry
- Once you’re a user you can place your orders via text message. Also you get to have designated curbside pickup time slots, which can be very convenient, especially with a pandemic happening.
CONs of Walmart+
Despite the fact that Walmart + is a great option, their product catalog, in comparison to Amazon Prime’s, is not as vast.
Also, we must take into account that for many people, going to a physical Walmart store represents a distraction, especially in times of COVID-19.
So, in that case, many shoppers would prefer to go personally to acquire their groceries, just to get out of their house for a short while.
However, for those who can’t go to the supermarket, Walmart + would definitely come in handy.
Final Thoughts
What Walmart+ is trying to do is offer their customers the same experience that it has for physical stores, but online. Coronavirus has continued to implement business practices that are more likely here to stay. Walmart is stepping up to cover all their client’s needs with its new Walmart+ subscription.
While the list of benefits is not as large as that of Amazon Prime, it is very promising and convenient to Walmart shoppers at least. So, its cheaper price for $98 dollars a year is promising to fulfill groceries orders at least in a more convenient way than Amazon Fresh.
It is also worth mentioning you can cancel your Walmart subscription at any time. If you forget about the free trial, you can still cancel within the next 48 hours after the trial is up.
