Walmart To Rival Amazon Prime With Walmart+ Roll Out In July

Walmart (WMT) is gearing up to launch its Amazon Prime rival Walmart+ in July.

The service is expected to include same-day grocery delivery, fuel discounts at Walmart gas stations, as well as a series of other member benefits at a price of $98 a year, sources told Vox’s Recode.

With the roll-out of Walmart+, the retail giant will go head-to-head with Amazon’s Prime service that offers subscribers free shipping, streaming services and a series of other advantages.

Amazon Prime costs members $119 a year and has lapped up a reported more than 150 million Prime subscribers -- a customer base that Walmart most likely wants to dip in to with its new service.

While Walmart follows behind Amazon in online sales, it has seen its e-commerce business grow. In fiscal 2020, online sales were up 37%. In the 2021 fiscal first quarter, Walmart saw a significant spike in e-commerce purchases during the coronavirus pandemic as more shoppers moved online to buy groceries and other essential items, pushing its online sales up 74%.

Amazon has a reported market valuation of $1.5 trillion while Walmart is at about $350 billion.

While Walmart confirmed that it was unveiling Walmart+ back in February, the Arkansas-based company has not publicly revealed its plans for the subscription service.

Walmart has come to market with a variety of ways to purchase groceries and other merchandise from its stores. The retailer offers curbside pickup and recently launched Express Delivery, which brings groceries directly to a consumer’s home in two hours or less for $10 a month.

Shares of Walmart were trading at $127.33 as of 3:16 p.m. ET, up $8.44 or 7.10%.