Walmart is Working on an Amazon Prime Competitor Called Walmart+

Amazon Prime is one of the main driving factors behind Amazon’s absolutely dominating the retail sector. First launched in 2005, Amazon Prime has grown to become the bane of existence for traditional retailers like Walmart, the likes of which initially thought the service to be a gimmick. Amazon enjoys nearly 40 percent of all online sales in the US, with Walmart coming in a distant second with an estimated 5 percent. 

Now, with Prime commanding a huge chunk of American customers, Walmart is reportedly had enough and is ready to fight back. As reported on by Recode, Walmart has been developing its response to Prime for the past 18-months, creating its own paid membership program. Called Walmart+, the program could potentially offer perks that Amazon will likely be unable to match. 

Walmart+ reportedly will charge customers $98 a year for unlimited, same-day delivery of fresh groceries from one of its 1,600 locations around the country. Another expected feature includes a text messaging service that will allow customers to place orders seamlessly from their phones. The retailer plans to begin publicly testing the membership program as soon as next month

If the service is successful, Walmart plans to add further perks to the program, including discounts at Walmart pharmacies and fuel at Walmart gas stations. Another proposed feature would be a Scan & Go service which would allow shoppers to check out in stores without having to wait in line. 

Walmart has already launched features similar to Prime, promising customers 1-day delivery of select items over $35 with no membership required. While that has been successful to a degree, the number of items eligible for this service is still outnumbered by Amazon 1 to 50. 

With consumers becoming used to quick service and fast shipping, Walmart+ has the potential to be successful. No grocery service that offers same-day delivery has been adopted by consumers on a large scale, but that could change with Walmart+. Is it enough to compete with Amazon Prime? It’s too early to tell. However, with further perks baked into the service for the future, Walmart+ could shape up to be a fairly good deal.