BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart is ready to go toe to toe with Amazon Prime.
The retail giant launched an annual membership service that will provide shoppers with free grocery delivery and other items “as fast as same-day.”
Walmart+ will cost $98 a year, or $12.95 a month, the company said in a news release Tuesday. The subscription will also include a 15-day free trial period.
The service begins Sept. 15.
Amazon Prime costs $119 annually or $12.99 per month in the United States. It has more than 150 million subscribers worldwide, NPR reported.
Other perks offered by the Walmart+ subscription are the ability to pay by mobile phone to skip checkout lines at stores by unlocking the store’s “Scan & Go” app. Fuel discounts up to 5 cents at nearly 2,000 Walmart, Murphy USA and Murphy Express gas stations also will be available, the company said.
“We are a company committed to meeting our customers’ needs,” Janey Whiteside, Walmart’s chief customer officer, said in a statement. “Customers know they can trust us and depend on us, and we’ve designed this program as the ultimate life hack for them. Walmart+ will bring together a comprehensive set of benefits where we see the greatest needs from our customers and where our scale can bring solutions at an unprecedented value.”
These benefits will supplement current customer offerings such as free curbside pickup, next-day delivery and two-day delivery, the company said.
Walmart previously tested Delivery Unlimited, a subscription service focused on groceries, NPR reported. Those subscribers will automatically switch to Walmart+, according to NPR. Last month, the company partnered with grocery-delivery company Instacart to provide same-day deliveries in several U.S. markets, CNBC reported.
Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, still trails Amazon in online sales, CBS News reported. According to eMarketer, a market research firm, Walmart is expected to take 6% of all online sales in the U.S. this year, compared to Amazon’s 38%, CBS News reported.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, more customers are shopping online for groceries, CNN reported. Groceries make up 56% of the store’s annual sales, according to CNN.
“Life feels more complicated than ever. Walmart+ is designed to make it easier, giving customers an option to not have to sacrifice on cost or convenience,” Whiteside said in the company’s news release. “We know shopping should fit customers’ needs, not the other way around. We have always been a champion for the right item at the right price, but now it’s more than that. We have the right shopping solutions at the right time, too.”