Walmart Beefs Up Walmart+ With Rewards That Pay Customers Back: Here's How It Works

Walmart (WMT) is adding more perks to its Walmart+ membership with Wednesday's rollout of Walmart Rewards.

The new rewards program allows customers to claim additional savings toward a future Walmart purchase by buying items that have been preselected for earnings. These rewards can then be used like cash at checkout to reduce the overall cost of a customer's basket.

Walmart+ subscribers will now see the option to add rewards from "hundreds of bestselling items," including groceries, household goods, and pet care merchandise, on Walmart.com and the Walmart app.

Shoppers will be able to bank their digital rewards in the Walmart wallet in the app as well as online to use toward future purchases made in-store or online.

The rewards are currently only available for Walmart+ customers beginning Wednesday, but the retail giant said that over time, it will "continue to expand the program to deliver new ways to earn rewards."

Walmart has partnered with Ibotta to provide the rewards program.

"We've always been committed to saving members time and money, and with Walmart Rewards, we're rewarding members for shopping with us through added savings on the items they want and need most. It's a little more that adds up to a lot," Chris Cracchiolo, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart+, said in a statement.

The rollout of the Walmart Rewards program comes after Walmart announced last week that Walmart+ subscribers would soon have access to streaming content with a free Paramount+ Essential subscription at no additional cost.

The entertainment benefits will become available to consumers in September as a part of a Walmart+ membership, which the retailer said was a $59 value.

A Walmart+ membership also includes gas discounts, free grocery delivery, free order delivery without a minimum purchase, and scan & go shopping features. The cost of a membership is $98 a year, or $12.95 a month.

As of Wednesday premarket hours, Walmart was trading at $133.95, down 5 cents, or 0.04%.