by Tyler Hale
The retail war between Walmart and Amazon is heating up.
Walmart is developing a new membership program that is designed to compete with Amazon’s existing Amazon Prime subscription service. Vox broke the news of the new service, and the site reports that Walmart has been developing its paid membership service model over the course of 18 months.
While Walmart has declined to comment on the service, a spokesperson has confirmed that it will be called Walmart+.
Amazon is listed at the top of the 2019 Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000 list, pulling in $280.52 billion in 2019. Its revenue increased by 20.5 percent over its 2018 haul. Walmart earned $514 billion in revenue in 2019 across all its sectors, but its e-commerce division does not have the market share that Amazon has. While Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce sales increased by 41 percent in 2019, they still lag behind Amazon. Walmart reportedly accounts for only 5 percent of the e-commerce market in the United States.
Launched in 2005, Amazon Prime has achieved market share through due to its longevity and its wide array of features, including unlimited next-day shipping and free streaming for movies, TV show and music. The service is currently available for $119.
According to the Vox report, Walmart will be working to differentiate its service from Amazon Prime by offering perks that take advantage of its existing footprint.
Walmart already offers a delivery service, called Delivery Unlimited, which charges $98/year for grocery shopping. The Vox report says the new Walmart+ model will likely be a rebrand of Delivery Unlimited. In 2015, the Bentonville retailer launched another subscription service that provided unlimited two day shipping. This service, ShippingPass, was canceled in 2017.
READ MORE: Walmart’s E-Commerce Strategy – Integrating Its Shopping Platforms