Walmart + members get free online delivery with no minimum

Walmart has said it will drop its minimum online shipping for customers who belong to its membership program, Walmart +.

Starting Friday, Walmart + members will get free next day and two-day shipping, even if they only have one item from the company’s website in their cart. Walmart generally requires customers to spend $ 35 or more to get free shipping.

“Customers have been clear – they want that benefit,” Janey Whiteside, Walmart’s chief customer officer, said in a press release. “Being able to throw an item into your cart, regardless of the total, and go to checkout immediately, allows them to remove little things from their to-do list in no time.

The big box giant is doing away with the minimum when trying to convince more customers to sign up for Walmart + and aims to better compete with rival membership program Amazon Prime. Walmart + and Amazon Prime have different prices and benefits. Still, one of the popular features of Amazon’s program is its free and fast delivery, even for items as cheap as a toothbrush or light bulb.

Walmart’s announcement comes as online shopping has grown in importance amid a global pandemic and during the holiday shopping season. Many consumers buy gifts, decorations, baking ingredients, and more from websites to limit trips to the store.

Walmart has also tried to improve Amazon in terms of price and speed. It has used its footprint of more than 4,700 stores to help speed up order fulfillment. Over 90% of Americans live within 10 miles of one of the company’s stores.

Walmart + launched in September, but the retailer has yet to release the number of customers who have joined. On an earnings conference call in November, Walmart executives repeatedly avoided analysts’ questions about the number of registrations. When asked by CNBC, the company declined to comment.

In a research note in mid-November, BMO Capital Markets estimated that as many as 19 million households may have subscribed to Walmart +. The projection is based on a survey of around 1,000 US buyers which found 16% had already signed up.

Amazon Prime had around 126 million US subscribers in October, according to an estimate from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. The company said at the end of January it had more than 150 million paid Prime members around the world – and that was before the e-commerce surge linked to the pandemic.

Walmart previously said it plans to continue adding perks to Walmart + to make it more attractive. During the November earnings call, CEO Doug McMillon said the service was a way to increase customer loyalty and build on the growth of e-commerce during the pandemic. E-commerce sales in the United States climbed 79% in Walmart’s third quarter ended Oct. 31.

Growth in online sales slowed as the pandemic continued, prompting some investors to voice skepticism that stay-at-home trends, such as the online grocery boom, were on the rise. will continue at the same level after the distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine. This inspired retailers, including Walmart, to seek out other sales engines.

Walmart + costs $ 98 per year or $ 12.95 per month compared to Amazon Prime, which costs $ 119 per year or $ 12.99 per month. It includes discounts of up to 5 cents per gallon on fuel and access to a Scan & Go app that allows buyers to skip the line. Customers can also get free unlimited grocery deliveries to their homes for orders of $ 35 or more.

In addition to Amazon’s fast and free deliveries, its members have access to an extensive library of film and television content, including blockbuster originals such as “The Marvelous Mrs. Prime members can also get free delivery of groceries on orders of $ 35 or more and get discounts at Whole Foods owned by Amazon.

—CNBC Annie palmer contributed to this story.