Image of Walmart+ groceries and an Amazon Prime package on two different doorsteps
Photo: Walmart | Amazon

Walmart+ has welcomed tens of millions of users in just a few years, but Amazon Prime remains America’s top digital membership program by usage. However, Walmart is not settling for second place.

The retail giant recently added a steep discount for customers on government assistance, reaching parity with Prime in this area, and now offers a host of travel benefits for all Walmart+ subscribers through a partnership with Expedia — something Amazon doesn’t yet match.

Each program’s exact number of subscribers is a closely guarded secret, but Walmart+ reportedly reached an impressive 59 million users, or 23% of the U.S. population, as of October 2022, according to data from PYMNTS. Yet it remains under the massive shadow cast by Amazon Prime, which had an estimated 182 million subscribers, or 72% of U.S. consumers, as of that time.

The gulf between the two is not surprising. Prime launched in February 2005 with a then-unprecedented value proposition, while Walmart+ was introduced in September 2020, over 15 years later. That said, the rapid takeoff of Walmart+ is a clear sign that the subscription service is resonating with consumers, and the escalation of offerings in each program shows that they’re both always on the search for a fresh advantage. 

New features in one program have led to similar launches for its competitor. For instance, the two have both offered streaming content since Walmart+ added free access to Paramount+ as a way to compete with Prime Video.

Sometimes feature launches are closer together. In early June 2021, Walmart added Walmart+ Rx for less to offer discounts on common prescriptions. Amazon reportedly introduced six-month prescriptions for the equivalent of $1 per month for Prime members the next day, according to Bloomberg.

The Walmart+ partnership with Expedia was also a case of mutual escalation, though to a lesser extent. The new suite of travel offerings on Walmart+ includes a dedicated booking and support site in the form of WalmartPlusTravel.com; access to Expedia’s end-to-end customer service; and the ability to earn Walmart Cash rewards for airline trips, hotels, and other travel necessities.

While Amazon hasn’t introduced a full-fledged travel program to Prime, this year marked the first time Prime Day included special travel deals thanks to a partnership with Priceline, according to Reuters and other media reports. The deals only lasted through the shopping holiday, but the page remains accessible with a note acknowledging that the deal has expired. 

Both subscriptions also diverge in some of the services offered. Each includes free delivery options among their core benefits, but in 2022, Walmart+ sought to one-up Prime with the launch of InHome direct-to-fridge delivery as an optional add-on.

Amazon holds the advantage for fashionistas, though. Prime members can use the Try Before You Buy program to physically try out items at home before committing to them, and while Walmart offers virtual try-ons, even Walmart+ members need to visit a brick-and-mortar store for the hands-on experience.

One of the biggest differences between the two retail giants is that Walmart doesn’t have an exact Prime Day analog. But this year’s Walmart+ Week just happened to coincide with Amazon’s famous shopping holiday, and it offered Walmart+ members exclusive access for the first 24 hours of the four-day event, according to Insider.

It’s clear that Walmart still has a lot of work to do to catch up with Prime’s sheer momentum. However, the steady expansion of Walmart+ benefits over the past three years shows that the country’s largest retailer will put in the effort to make its paid membership program No. 1 as well.

BrainTrust

“The key to the growth of Walmart+ is to not think of themselves as a retailer. The strategy mustn’t be “What can we sell?” but “How can we slide smoothly into people’s lives?””

Gene Detroyer

Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics and University of Sanya, China.


“The good news is that competition will raise the bar for everyone, and in this case, the customer is the winner.”

Shep Hyken

Chief Amazement Officer, Shepard Presentations, LLC


“Amazon had the online head start, but Walmart has assets that Amazon either can’t or won’t invest in – hundreds of stores.”

Paula Rosenblum

Co-founder, RSR Research

Discussion Questions

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What else can Walmart add to Walmart+ to help it continue growing and potentially take market share from Amazon Prime? Do you expect Walmart+ and Prime to continue mirroring each other’s offerings in the future, or will each focus on developing unique benefits?

Poll

Do you subscribe to Walmart+ or Amazon Prime?

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26 responses to “Can Walmart+ Overcome Amazon Prime’s 15-Year Head Start?”

  1. Neil Saunders Avatar
    Neil Saunders

    Amazon Prime had a head start on Walmart+ and that’s one of the reasons why it has higher penetration. It also had first mover advantage as when Prime was originally offered there were not many other programs for consumers to buy into. But beyond that, Amazon has worked hard at creating an all-encompassing range of benefits from fast, free shipping to content streaming. Walmart+ is much more one-dimensional. When originally launched the only real benefit other than shipping was a discount on gas. Back then I said it was obvious Walmart would continue to enhance the program by adding more bells and whistles over time – and so it has done. I am sure it can grow further but, for my money, Walmart+ is still not as attractive as Prime. 

  2. Mark Ryski Avatar
    Mark Ryski

    Given how this loyalty ‘arms race’ has evolved, it’s hard to say where it will go next. It’s not going to be easy for Walmart to take share from Amazon, but to amass 59 million members in only three years is astounding. Given the value that memberships have to Walmart and Amazon, I expect this arms race to continue unabated. Both giants will continue to ratchet up their offerings in what is sure to be a tit-for-tat battle that consumers will love. I’d be curious to know what the overlap of Walmart+ and Amazon membership is?

  3. David Naumann Avatar
    David Naumann

    Walmart+’s biggest challenge is changing consumers’ perceptions and habits. Amazon is still the first place consumers search for products and many people just think of Walmart as a site for Walmart products. They need to convince shoppers of the value of the Walmart+ marketplace’s breadth of products and all other value added features. This is a fierce battle between Prime and Walmart+ and it will continue to be competitive. The good news is that consumers will benefit from the competition.

  4. John Lietsch Avatar
    John Lietsch

    Walmart can become Amazon or hope Amazon makes a mistake or both. It could also be content with second place in the “online retailer” space and retain its dominance in the physical world. The ability to provide both and do so effectively and profitably is an advantage. Unfortunately, Amazon’s combination of customer loyalty, brand recognition, product offerings, pricing and ease of use, to name a few, make it a formidable opponent and explains why it accounts for nearly 40% of US online retail. I believe that after a few rounds of mirroring, there will be a natural shift to differentiation to protect profitability and each will continue to dominate in their unique but respective rings. Ali v Frazier IV?

  5. Gene Detroyer Avatar
    Gene Detroyer

    Isn’t competition wonderful?

    The challenge for Walmart vs Prime is that Prime has become part of lifestyle. Habits are hard to break.

    The key to the growth of Walmart+ is to not think of themselves as a retailer. The strategy must not be “What can we sell?” but “How can we slide smoothly into people’s lives?”

    And the winner will be all of us!

  6. Gary Sankary Avatar
    Gary Sankary

    Walmart has been on a roll in eCommerce for the last few years. They are absolutely doing all the right things to build market share, as 23% of the US population attest. And as remarkable as this growth has been, unseating Amazon in total, I don’t think, is a realistic goal. For key categories for Walmart like food, health and beauty, and other CPG categories, Walmart can continue to win.

  7. Jeff Sward Avatar
    Jeff Sward

    Prime is one of the best values in retail, and it offers an impressive array of products and services. Walmart has stores…physical proximity to 90% of the country’s population. The array of products and services Walmart offers is also impressive, and when they expand deeper into health services they will be in territory that will give them a leg up on Amazon. Walmart may never catch up to Amazon in ecommerce, but how will Amazon ever catch up to Walmart in brick & mortar experiential retail…???

  8. Shep Hyken Avatar
    Shep Hyken

    Who ever thought Amazon wouldn’t one day have competition. The good news is that competition will raise the bar for everyone, and in this case, the customer is the winner. Each competitor (Walmart and Target – and any others) can’t just copy their competition. Then it’s just a coin-flip on who the customer chooses to do business with. Each company will have to create their unique and compelling offering if they want to win customers. Amazon is innovative and as the article implies, has a 15-year headstart. A little (or big) competition is good.

    1. Gene Detroyer Avatar
      Gene Detroyer

      Absolutely, Shep!

  9. Bob Amster Avatar
    Bob Amster

    The answer is: yes, Walmart can match and overcome Amazon Prime. That does not mean it’s going to happen, nor that it needs to happen for Walmart to be successful (they already are). But it is possible because a once-successful business can slip and die (e.g., BB&B), and also because Walmart is already a formidable company with a good execution track record.

  10. Paula Rosenblum Avatar
    Paula Rosenblum

    Well, Amazon had the online head start, but Walmart has assets that Amazon either can’t or won’t invest in – hundreds of stores. That’s a big deal for profitability, not just for top line sales.

    Walmart garnered a LOT of good will during the pandemic. Amazon, not so much. In fact, I was always a Walmart hater. Now I’m kind of a fan.

    Over the long haul, without store assets, Amazon will never be a profitable retailer. It may continue to grow its top line, but the bottom line will be challenging….even if it continues to buy its own planes (seriously?????)

    1. Gene Detroyer Avatar
      Gene Detroyer

      Amazon doesn’t see itself as a retailer.

      1. Paula Rosenblum Avatar
        Paula Rosenblum

        Correct. It doesn’t. That’s because it doesn’t make any money at it. So does this comparison even make sense? Anyone can sell a lot of stuff at a loss. Walmart clearly DOES see itself as a retailer.

  11. Doug Garnett Avatar
    Doug Garnett

    This asks the wrong question. Instead, the question should be Should Walmart care whether they’re competing with Amazon’s vast Prime money pit.

    We have had years of retail spending huge resources chasing money losing efforts. It’s time to sit back and take a deep breath. What matters to Walmart is having a strong core business and all efforts need to be considered for whether they help that in significant ways.

    1. Bob Amster Avatar
      Bob Amster

      My point, precisely. You said it better!

  12. Janet Dorenkott Avatar
    Janet Dorenkott

    Coming from the IT industry that focuses on CPG and Retail, I wondered for years, why retailers, especially Walmart, were not jumping on the e-commerce bandwagon right away.

    Amazon is simply an amazing company. Walmart is late to the game, but I would argue that they aren’t just 15 years late, they are almost 30 years late. Bezo’s started selling books online in 1994. In 1997-98 they went public & started selling more than books. In 2005 they introduced AWS and started offering storage & processing of data. In 2007 they started “Amazon Fresh” to sell groceries online. The industry was highly skeptical of this move, but they made it work. In 2014 Amazon made it possible to order items just by asking “Echo.” Amazon is truly a disruptive company.

    Walmart is doing the right thing. They will have to be creative. Offering points for travel is a great idea. People (like me) do love their points. Although they are late to the game, I’m impressed by how quickly Walmart has built their online, customer base. They have the advantage of watching and probably using Amazon’s offerings. Walmart has the deep pockets and infrastructure to compete affectively against Amazon. Will they ever catch up? I think it’s possible, it will take some time, creativity and great customer service.

  13. Melissa Minkow Avatar
    Melissa Minkow

    I’m impressed by Walmart+’s traction here, but shopping Amazon via Prime is such an engrained habit at this point, I’ll be very surprised if they fall behind.

  14. Brian Numainville Avatar
    Brian Numainville

    Considering overall satisfaction from a food shopper perspective, Amazon has a slight lead with a mean score of 4.30 on a five-point scale compared to mass (primarily Walmart) at 4.26. But looking at all of the various touchpoints of the online food shopping experience, supermarkets were the top channel in many, and where they weren’t, Amazon was the leader. Taking a more macro view, Amazon has a big head start with Prime and despite the investment by Walmart with Walmart+, they have a long way to go, and may not be able to overtake Amazon.

  15. Brandon Rael Avatar
    Brandon Rael

    Competition is always a good thing. With its Walmart+ marketplace, Walmart certainly has the capabilities, infrastructure, assets, physical stores, integrated supply chain, distribution network, capital investments, and brand notoriety to make an impact. Indeed, Amazon Prime has had a significant head start. However, as Walmart has consistently proven over the past 10-plus years, it will continue to be a formidable opponent and viable alternative for an eCommerce digital marketplace dominated by Amazon.

    By no means should we expect Walmart+ to overtake Amazon Prime. However, the differentiation strategy and value that Walmart provides will be noticed by the Amazon team, and they will have to keep their services on par or ahead of their main competitor for years to come.

  16. BenedictEnterprisesLLC Avatar
    BenedictEnterprisesLLC

    One thing I would advise anyone in our industry is to never, ever, underestimate two firms…Walmart and Amazon. If you do, you do so at your peril.

    Walmart continues to refine the offer on Walmart+ and has access to a customer base in the US market that is second to none. Leveraging additional valuable services and the existing store base is gaining them traction, and discounting the membership during key drive periods throughout the year will continue to benefit them over time.

    At the same time, Amazon continues to add value with the speed of shipping and quality services like Amazon Prime Video. They are not the type to not fight back against Walmart. Over time, this is becoming a two horse race and I believe that Walmart will cut into Amazon’s lead significantly.

  17. Craig Sundstrom Avatar
    Craig Sundstrom

    Does Walmart+ – or even Walmart, Inc. – really need to worry about “taking share” from Amazon ?? Huge as each is, they still represent only a tiny fraction of retail sales…there’re plenty of other companies they can takes sales from.

  18. Brian Cluster Avatar
    Brian Cluster

    One of the benefits of Walmart + is the gas discount of 5 to 10 cents a gallon. This can be an appealing benefit that is not currently offered by Amazon that arguably will be hard to match by Amazon. These gas discounts at Walmart and Murphy gas stations generate traffic to Walmart locations and generate more loyalty and potential as a one-stop solution for households.

    I would expect Walmart to innovate with more physical service benefits while Amazon focuses on content and shipping. The Automotive service discounts ( tire rotation,balancing, etc.) could be a potential Walmart+ benefit that would be hard to replicate by Amazon.

  19. Kai Clarke Avatar
    Kai Clarke

    Walmart needs to follow the Amazon Prime playbook. Add Video movies and tv, music, low-cost access to books, a full range of fully supported house-branded electronics, as well as a fulfillment arm, warehousing, shipping option and support for small businesses. On top of all of this, they need to provide professional level net access and support for a web access for all businesses. Technologically, Walmart is in no position to offer this, or even some of this so that they can compete with Amazon.

  20. Scott Jennings Avatar
    Scott Jennings

    Similar to monetizing marketplace advertising, Amazon was first mover with Prime. Walmart & others may not be able to match Amazon in the short term but that should not stop them from capitalizing on the concept in a manner that is unique to their business. As mentioned in many comments, a robust store network will create opportunities for meaningful differentiation for Walmart & others.

  21. Lisa Taylor Avatar
    Lisa Taylor

    What both of these retailers are doing is creating ecosystems. Their programs have so many offerings, they save consumers money and time by creating efficiencies and when it comes time to renew, the customer doesn’t think twice about it because they can’t “live without” multiple elements offered by the program. That said, not everyone has Amazon Prime, and Walmart has the distinct advantage of thousands of stores that could be utilized in a myriad of ways to differentiate Walmart+ and build on the total offerings of the program. At the end of the day, it’s a battle of which program provides the most comprehensive value to customers, who will likely only subscribe to one or the other as they try to reign in the number of subscriptions to those that are providing the most bang for the buck.

  22. Anil Patel Avatar
    Anil Patel

    In many ways, Target is able to outperform Walmart in capturing its customers. Having said that, the combined audience of Target and Walmart is equivalent to Amazon’s customer base, which is not only technologically adept but also widely embraces Amazon Prime. In my opinion, Walmart+ may not reach the heights of Amazon Prime, considering Amazon’s massive reach. On the other hand, when it comes to challenging Amazon Prime’s dominance, it is more plausible that Costco’s membership poses stronger competition than Walmart+.

26 Comments
oldest
newest
Neil Saunders
Neil Saunders
7 days ago

Amazon Prime had a head start on Walmart+ and that’s one of the reasons why it has higher penetration. It also had first mover advantage as when Prime was originally offered there were not many other programs for consumers to buy into. But beyond that, Amazon has worked hard at creating an all-encompassing range of benefits from fast, free shipping to content streaming. Walmart+ is much more one-dimensional. When originally launched the only real benefit other than shipping was a discount on gas. Back then I said it was obvious Walmart would continue to enhance the program by adding more bells and whistles over time – and so it has done. I am sure it can grow further but, for my money, Walmart+ is still not as attractive as Prime. 

Mark Ryski
Mark Ryski
7 days ago

Given how this loyalty ‘arms race’ has evolved, it’s hard to say where it will go next. It’s not going to be easy for Walmart to take share from Amazon, but to amass 59 million members in only three years is astounding. Given the value that memberships have to Walmart and Amazon, I expect this arms race to continue unabated. Both giants will continue to ratchet up their offerings in what is sure to be a tit-for-tat battle that consumers will love. I’d be curious to know what the overlap of Walmart+ and Amazon membership is?

David Naumann
David Naumann
7 days ago

Walmart+’s biggest challenge is changing consumers’ perceptions and habits. Amazon is still the first place consumers search for products and many people just think of Walmart as a site for Walmart products. They need to convince shoppers of the value of the Walmart+ marketplace’s breadth of products and all other value added features. This is a fierce battle between Prime and Walmart+ and it will continue to be competitive. The good news is that consumers will benefit from the competition.

John Lietsch
John Lietsch
7 days ago

Walmart can become Amazon or hope Amazon makes a mistake or both. It could also be content with second place in the “online retailer” space and retain its dominance in the physical world. The ability to provide both and do so effectively and profitably is an advantage. Unfortunately, Amazon’s combination of customer loyalty, brand recognition, product offerings, pricing and ease of use, to name a few, make it a formidable opponent and explains why it accounts for nearly 40% of US online retail. I believe that after a few rounds of mirroring, there will be a natural shift to differentiation to protect profitability and each will continue to dominate in their unique but respective rings. Ali v Frazier IV?

Gene Detroyer
Gene Detroyer
7 days ago

Isn’t competition wonderful?

The challenge for Walmart vs Prime is that Prime has become part of lifestyle. Habits are hard to break.

The key to the growth of Walmart+ is to not think of themselves as a retailer. The strategy must not be “What can we sell?” but “How can we slide smoothly into people’s lives?”

And the winner will be all of us!

Gary Sankary
Gary Sankary
7 days ago

Walmart has been on a roll in eCommerce for the last few years. They are absolutely doing all the right things to build market share, as 23% of the US population attest. And as remarkable as this growth has been, unseating Amazon in total, I don’t think, is a realistic goal. For key categories for Walmart like food, health and beauty, and other CPG categories, Walmart can continue to win.

Jeff Sward
Jeff Sward
7 days ago

Prime is one of the best values in retail, and it offers an impressive array of products and services. Walmart has stores…physical proximity to 90% of the country’s population. The array of products and services Walmart offers is also impressive, and when they expand deeper into health services they will be in territory that will give them a leg up on Amazon. Walmart may never catch up to Amazon in ecommerce, but how will Amazon ever catch up to Walmart in brick & mortar experiential retail…???

Shep Hyken
Shep Hyken
7 days ago

Who ever thought Amazon wouldn’t one day have competition. The good news is that competition will raise the bar for everyone, and in this case, the customer is the winner. Each competitor (Walmart and Target – and any others) can’t just copy their competition. Then it’s just a coin-flip on who the customer chooses to do business with. Each company will have to create their unique and compelling offering if they want to win customers. Amazon is innovative and as the article implies, has a 15-year headstart. A little (or big) competition is good.

Gene Detroyer
Gene Detroyer
  Shep Hyken
7 days ago

Absolutely, Shep!

Bob Amster
Bob Amster
7 days ago

The answer is: yes, Walmart can match and overcome Amazon Prime. That does not mean it’s going to happen, nor that it needs to happen for Walmart to be successful (they already are). But it is possible because a once-successful business can slip and die (e.g., BB&B), and also because Walmart is already a formidable company with a good execution track record.

Paula Rosenblum
Paula Rosenblum
7 days ago

Well, Amazon had the online head start, but Walmart has assets that Amazon either can’t or won’t invest in – hundreds of stores. That’s a big deal for profitability, not just for top line sales.

Walmart garnered a LOT of good will during the pandemic. Amazon, not so much. In fact, I was always a Walmart hater. Now I’m kind of a fan.

Over the long haul, without store assets, Amazon will never be a profitable retailer. It may continue to grow its top line, but the bottom line will be challenging….even if it continues to buy its own planes (seriously?????)

Gene Detroyer
Gene Detroyer
  Paula Rosenblum
7 days ago

Amazon doesn’t see itself as a retailer.

Paula Rosenblum
Paula Rosenblum
  Gene Detroyer
7 days ago

Correct. It doesn’t. That’s because it doesn’t make any money at it. So does this comparison even make sense? Anyone can sell a lot of stuff at a loss. Walmart clearly DOES see itself as a retailer.

Doug Garnett
Doug Garnett
7 days ago

This asks the wrong question. Instead, the question should be Should Walmart care whether they’re competing with Amazon’s vast Prime money pit.

We have had years of retail spending huge resources chasing money losing efforts. It’s time to sit back and take a deep breath. What matters to Walmart is having a strong core business and all efforts need to be considered for whether they help that in significant ways.

Bob Amster
Bob Amster
  Doug Garnett
7 days ago

My point, precisely. You said it better!

Janet Dorenkott
Janet Dorenkott
7 days ago

Coming from the IT industry that focuses on CPG and Retail, I wondered for years, why retailers, especially Walmart, were not jumping on the e-commerce bandwagon right away.

Amazon is simply an amazing company. Walmart is late to the game, but I would argue that they aren’t just 15 years late, they are almost 30 years late. Bezo’s started selling books online in 1994. In 1997-98 they went public & started selling more than books. In 2005 they introduced AWS and started offering storage & processing of data. In 2007 they started “Amazon Fresh” to sell groceries online. The industry was highly skeptical of this move, but they made it work. In 2014 Amazon made it possible to order items just by asking “Echo.” Amazon is truly a disruptive company.

Walmart is doing the right thing. They will have to be creative. Offering points for travel is a great idea. People (like me) do love their points. Although they are late to the game, I’m impressed by how quickly Walmart has built their online, customer base. They have the advantage of watching and probably using Amazon’s offerings. Walmart has the deep pockets and infrastructure to compete affectively against Amazon. Will they ever catch up? I think it’s possible, it will take some time, creativity and great customer service.

Melissa Minkow
Melissa Minkow
7 days ago

I’m impressed by Walmart+’s traction here, but shopping Amazon via Prime is such an engrained habit at this point, I’ll be very surprised if they fall behind.

Brian Numainville
Brian Numainville
7 days ago

Considering overall satisfaction from a food shopper perspective, Amazon has a slight lead with a mean score of 4.30 on a five-point scale compared to mass (primarily Walmart) at 4.26. But looking at all of the various touchpoints of the online food shopping experience, supermarkets were the top channel in many, and where they weren’t, Amazon was the leader. Taking a more macro view, Amazon has a big head start with Prime and despite the investment by Walmart with Walmart+, they have a long way to go, and may not be able to overtake Amazon.

Brandon Rael
Brandon Rael
7 days ago

Competition is always a good thing. With its Walmart+ marketplace, Walmart certainly has the capabilities, infrastructure, assets, physical stores, integrated supply chain, distribution network, capital investments, and brand notoriety to make an impact. Indeed, Amazon Prime has had a significant head start. However, as Walmart has consistently proven over the past 10-plus years, it will continue to be a formidable opponent and viable alternative for an eCommerce digital marketplace dominated by Amazon.

By no means should we expect Walmart+ to overtake Amazon Prime. However, the differentiation strategy and value that Walmart provides will be noticed by the Amazon team, and they will have to keep their services on par or ahead of their main competitor for years to come.

BenedictEnterprisesLLC
BenedictEnterprisesLLC
7 days ago

One thing I would advise anyone in our industry is to never, ever, underestimate two firms…Walmart and Amazon. If you do, you do so at your peril.

Walmart continues to refine the offer on Walmart+ and has access to a customer base in the US market that is second to none. Leveraging additional valuable services and the existing store base is gaining them traction, and discounting the membership during key drive periods throughout the year will continue to benefit them over time.

At the same time, Amazon continues to add value with the speed of shipping and quality services like Amazon Prime Video. They are not the type to not fight back against Walmart. Over time, this is becoming a two horse race and I believe that Walmart will cut into Amazon’s lead significantly.

Craig Sundstrom
Craig Sundstrom
7 days ago

Does Walmart+ – or even Walmart, Inc. – really need to worry about “taking share” from Amazon ?? Huge as each is, they still represent only a tiny fraction of retail sales…there’re plenty of other companies they can takes sales from.

Brian Cluster
Brian Cluster
7 days ago

One of the benefits of Walmart + is the gas discount of 5 to 10 cents a gallon. This can be an appealing benefit that is not currently offered by Amazon that arguably will be hard to match by Amazon. These gas discounts at Walmart and Murphy gas stations generate traffic to Walmart locations and generate more loyalty and potential as a one-stop solution for households.

I would expect Walmart to innovate with more physical service benefits while Amazon focuses on content and shipping. The Automotive service discounts ( tire rotation,balancing, etc.) could be a potential Walmart+ benefit that would be hard to replicate by Amazon.

Kai Clarke
Kai Clarke
7 days ago

Walmart needs to follow the Amazon Prime playbook. Add Video movies and tv, music, low-cost access to books, a full range of fully supported house-branded electronics, as well as a fulfillment arm, warehousing, shipping option and support for small businesses. On top of all of this, they need to provide professional level net access and support for a web access for all businesses. Technologically, Walmart is in no position to offer this, or even some of this so that they can compete with Amazon.

Scott Jennings
Scott Jennings
6 days ago

Similar to monetizing marketplace advertising, Amazon was first mover with Prime. Walmart & others may not be able to match Amazon in the short term but that should not stop them from capitalizing on the concept in a manner that is unique to their business. As mentioned in many comments, a robust store network will create opportunities for meaningful differentiation for Walmart & others.

Lisa Taylor
Lisa Taylor
6 days ago

What both of these retailers are doing is creating ecosystems. Their programs have so many offerings, they save consumers money and time by creating efficiencies and when it comes time to renew, the customer doesn’t think twice about it because they can’t “live without” multiple elements offered by the program. That said, not everyone has Amazon Prime, and Walmart has the distinct advantage of thousands of stores that could be utilized in a myriad of ways to differentiate Walmart+ and build on the total offerings of the program. At the end of the day, it’s a battle of which program provides the most comprehensive value to customers, who will likely only subscribe to one or the other as they try to reign in the number of subscriptions to those that are providing the most bang for the buck.

Anil Patel
Anil Patel
1 day ago

In many ways, Target is able to outperform Walmart in capturing its customers. Having said that, the combined audience of Target and Walmart is equivalent to Amazon’s customer base, which is not only technologically adept but also widely embraces Amazon Prime. In my opinion, Walmart+ may not reach the heights of Amazon Prime, considering Amazon’s massive reach. On the other hand, when it comes to challenging Amazon Prime’s dominance, it is more plausible that Costco’s membership poses stronger competition than Walmart+.