- Walmart said it would launch Walmart Plus, a membership program costing $98 annually, nationwide on September 15.
- Many analysts see Walmart Plus as a direct competitor to Amazon Prime, which costs $119 annually.
- The program’s biggest perks include fuel discounts of up to $0.05 per gallon and free unlimited delivery of more than 160,000 items, including groceries and general merchandise.
- Walmart said Walmart Plus orders could be delivered as soon as the same day. Walmart typically charges customers a grocery-delivery fee of $7.95 to $9.95 per order.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Walmart plans to launch its highly anticipated membership program, Walmart Plus, nationwide on September 15, the company said Tuesday.
Walmart Plus will cost $98 annually or $12.95 monthly and offer fuel discounts as well as free unlimited delivery of orders of groceries, toys, and more. Walmart typically charges customers a grocery-delivery fee of $7.95 to $9.95 per order.
Walmart said Walmart Plus members would have the option of same-day delivery of their orders, which will be primarily fulfilled by Walmart stores.
“Members can shop more than 160,000 items at in-store prices, whether that be fresh produce, meat, and seafood to everyday essentials like toothpaste and toilet paper, as well as some toys, electronics, and other general-merchandise items, which can be delivered straight to their door as soon as the same day,” Walmart’s chief customer officer, Janey Whiteside, said in a call with reporters.
Walmart said members would get fuel discounts of up to $0.05 per gallon at 2,000 Walmart, Murphy USA, and Murphy Express gas stations. Sam's Club stations will soon be added to this list, the company said.
Walmart Plus members will also get access to "Scan & Go" in the Walmart app, which enables customers to scan items with their phones while they shop and to check out using Walmart Pay.
Walmart has been testing the free-delivery perk in some markets since last year as part of a program called Delivery Unlimited. Once Walmart Plus launches, Delivery Unlimited members will automatically become Walmart Plus members.
Whiteside said customers had "loved" Delivery Unlimited.
"We've had really great feedback from customers on how much it's been able to save them time," she said.
How Walmart Plus compares to Amazon Prime
Many analysts see Walmart Plus as a direct competitor to Amazon Prime, which costs $119 annually and offers free two-day shipping on all orders through Amazon.com; free grocery delivery from Whole Foods stores and Amazon Fresh; and movie, TV, and music streaming.
Whiteside said, however, that Walmart wasn't focused on competing with Amazon Prime.
"We're not launching Walmart Plus with the intent to compete with anything else," she said. "We're launching it to meet the needs of our customers, and it really was designed to make their busy lives easier."
She said Walmart planned to add to the list of Walmart Plus membership benefits over time.
"These benefits are not intended to be static," Whiteside said. "In the future, we will be leveraging our wide-ranging strengths to add additional benefits for members in a range of both services and offerings."
She said the company did not plan to provide any perks to Walmart Plus members that could detract from the shopping experience of nonmembers, such as priority for grocery-pickup time slots.
"That was really important for us, as we [thought] about customers who want to benefit from Walmart but don't have the intention or the means to be able to enroll in a membership program," she said.