Walmart Vs. Amazon Shipping Competition Heats Up: How To Get Free Delivery

Walmart (WMT) is beefing up its rivalry with Amazon (AMZN) by eliminating its $35 shipping minimum for Walmart+ members, putting it directly in line with Amazon Prime’s offerings.

The retail giant will now provide free shipping for Walmart+ members, bumping up the perks offered with its membership. The free shipping offer starts on Friday and will be offered on orders of any size.

Not only does this make it more competitive with Amazon Prime, but it gives more weight to the Walmart+ membership, which also offers gas discounts, unlimited free grocery deliveries on orders of $35 or more, and Scan and Go in-store services.

“It feels like a life hack is needed now more than ever, and Walmart+ is here to help,” Janey Whiteside, chief customer officer at Walmart, said in a statement on Wednesday. “No other membership allows customers across the country to get everything from gingerbread cookies and eggnog to holiday decorations and toys delivered for free as soon as the same day. Walmart+ is designed to make life easier – giving customers an option to not have to sacrifice on cost or convenience.”

Like an Amazon Prime membership, Walmart+ members will receive free next-day and two-day delivery on items shipped by Walmart. Amazon Prime also offers free next-day and two-day delivery on most items on its e-commerce site.

A Walmart+ membership costs $98 a year or $12.95 a month. Walmart offers a 15-day free trial of the service. In comparison, Amazon’s Prime membership costs $119 a year or $12.99 a month. Amazon offers a 30-day trial of its service.

Walmart, which has not released how many subscribers it has on its September-launched Walmart+, has continually said it plans to add more benefits to the membership to make it even more appealing.

Amazon Prime offers an array of services, including streaming content as well as free grocery delivery on orders of $35 and discounts at Whole Foods, which Amazon owns. Amazon has said it has over 126 million members within its Amazon Prime service, CNBC reported.

Shares of Walmart stock were trading at $152 as of 9:03 a.m. on Wednesday, down 64 cents or 0.42% while shares of Amazon were trading at $3,226, up $5.92 or 0.18% at the same time.