WALMART and Amazon are two of the world's largest retailers and compete fiercely in the retail market, including in the grocery space. Although Amazon outpaces Walmart Plus by the numbers, a retail expert shared a key way to choose the right service for you. Launched in September 2020, Walmart+ is a membership-based subscription service.
Walmart created the service during the pandemic when online sales were rampant due to shoppers' sentiments that grocery pickup was safer than in-person shopping. Walmart is the world's largest retailer and consistently surpasses Amazon as its biggest competitor each year, so the retailer was bound to create a program to compete with Amazon Prime . Prime was launched in 2005 and has over 200 million subscribers, while Walmart+ has been active for around four years and is estimated to have somewhere under 100 million members.
Walmart's chief customer officer Janey Whiteside denied claims that the service was intended to vie with Prime. “We’re not launching Walmart+ with the intent to compete with anything else,” she said on a call with reporters in 2020. “We’re launching it to meet the needs of our customers, and it really was designed to make their busy lives easier.
We think that it offers a comprehensive suite of in-store and online benefits that help people save time and money across a variety of areas.” To explore why companies create paid services, The U.S.
Sun spoke with Mitchell Olsen, a marketing professor at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, who specializes in retail. Olsen explained that large brands create such platforms to deepen shopper loyalty. "Retailers benefit with more loyal shoppers who will shift more of their overall spending to that particular retailer and away from its competitors," he explained.
Walmart's Whiteside concurred when she noted in 2020 that the goal of Walmart+ was to strengthen customer allegiance rather than compete with Prime. “This is about really doubling down with the customers we have and getting more share of wallet and more share of mind,” he said. Prime members spent 113% more than nonmembers each month when shopping online, according to PYMNTS .
Walmart+ holds less of a grip on shoppers' wallets, with Walmart+ users spending only 15% more than nonmembers each month when shopping online, and 10% less when in-store. These paid platforms also have benefits for consumers as well. From the customer perspective, shoppers buy into such programs because they save money , time, and frustration, according to Olsen.
When choosing between Amazon Prime and Walmart+, shoppers should consider what they are willing to pay and which perks are most important to them. Amazon Prime generally offers more benefits than Walmart+, including access to Amazon's host of services like Prime Video, Music, and Gaming. However, the extra services will run you a higher bill - Amazon Prime costs $41 more each year than Walmart+.
The higher price tag may not be worth it for shoppers who primarily plan on using Amazon's service for its online shopping. Walmart and Amazon are the top two dominant retailers globally. Here is a comparison of their paid services: Walmart Plus: Amazon Prime: Read More: Amazon customers can choose from hundreds of millions of products on Prime.
On the other hand, Walmart+ users have access to around 200,000 products. Amazon also boasts cheaper prices, according to a study by Profitero . The internet commerce analytics platform compared the two platforms and found that Amazon offered the lowest prices on video games and fashion , but only had a slight edge in beauty and toys.
Profitero compared the regular prices of around 14,000 products and concluded that Amazon offered cheaper prices than Walmart and 12 other retailers, including Best Buy , CVS , Home Depot , Macy’s , and Target . The study also found that Amazon offered cheaper groceries. However, shoppers who intend to order groceries should take Amazon Prime and Walmart+ delivery fees into account Via Amazon's grocery service Amazon Fresh, delivery orders over $100 with a two-hour delivery window are free with Prime.
Orders from $50 to $100 with a two-hour delivery window incur a $6.95 service fee, and orders under $50 include a $9.95 fee.
On the other hand, there are no delivery fees for orders over $35 for Walmart+ members. Olsen noted that most shoppers choose a platform based on which one they think will save them more money overall. For example, in the case of Walmart+, "It's certainly worth it for those who will otherwise spend significantly more than $98 a year on grocery deliveries, a Paramount+ subscription, and non-discounted gas prices.
" Which platform you subscribe to ultimately depends on your preferences and shopping needs. The U.S.
Sun previously spoke with Olsen on why Walmart is the world’s most dominant retailer . He also discussed why restaurant chains are closing ..
