As subscription services are getting popular day by day, eCommerce giants won’t let the opportunity go by. A reminder of that, Walmart and Amazon, two of the biggest marketplaces in the world already have their subscription services. Walmart Plus and Amazon Prime respectively. Both offer special delivery services, discounts, and deals to subscribers. Obviously, Amazon is far bigger as a company, but no one can deny Walmart possesses a rivalry with it. Now they both have a similar type of subscription service. The question arises, which one is better? Walmart+ or Amazon Prime?
Walmart+ and Amazon Prime offer similar types of services for their members. If you are a regular online shopper and thinking about getting a subscription service from these two, which one would you pick? So, in this documentation, I will talk about Walmart+ vs Amazon Prime. All their offers and limitations compare to each other.
Subscription Cost
Walmart Plus costs $12.95/month, with the option to subscribe for a year at 98 dollars, which will lower the monthly cost to 8.17 dollars. A 30-day free trial is available.
Amazon Prime subscription costs $7.49/month for the first three months and then it costs $14.99/month. And yearly prime subscription is $139. Both include a 30-day free trial.
In addition to that, Prime offers some discount versions, like Prime Student. It provides a free 6-month trial period, after that it costs $69 per year or $6.49 per month for 4 years or until graduation, whatever comes first. Amazon Student offers are almost the same as Prime. It also includes discounts on services like Grubhub+ Student, Calm, StudentUniverse, Linkedin, and Course Hero.
Apart from that if you have an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) or Medicaid card, you can sign up for prime at $6.99 per month for up to four years. And you can share your Prime benefits with one other adult member of your family, plus up to four kids in the same house.
However, as of today, Walmart does not offer any special student or family subscription perks.
Delivery Services
Walmart+ offers Free shipping for home goods and groceries, with no $35 minimum order. You can enjoy free next-day & two-day shipping on items from Walmart, and its 4,700 stores that participate in Walmart Plus. With a huge assortment of eligible items and a $35 minimum order, they offer same-day one-hour delivery windows. But for that, you have to live near a Walmart store and your product must be available in the store. And obviously, this does not apply to third-party sellers. You have to look for Sold and shipped by Walmart.com label on product pages.
Amazon offers one-day delivery on over 10 million items. Apply the filter “Get it tomorrow” while searching for items and it’ll be delivered by 9 p.m. the next day. Depending on your residence, orders over $35 also qualify for free same-day delivery. And Prime members can also choose a free, two-hour delivery window if they order groceries from Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods. Additionally, If you are ordering multiple things every week, Amazon will let you pick a “delivery day” to get your packages delivered all at once if you are a Prime member.
Easy and Speed-up Shopping
Scan & go. If you are like don’t want to get in line, or don’t like being in a crowd, this is a great feature for you. Walmart plus allows you to speed up your shopping. Go to the store and scan the product and pay for it with the Walmart app. You can find the app in the App store and Play store. Completely contactless and hassle-free shopping.
Though Amazon prime doesn’t have this scan and go, prime gives you the interesting feature of shopping with Alexa. Just say, “Alexa, what are my Whole Foods deals?” or “Alexa, add bread to my list.” You can also check out with your voice or on Amazon.com.
Both Walmart plus and Prime give early access to deals to their subscribers. You will be one of the first to know about upcoming deals and offers.
Early Access to Deals
Amazon hosts a two-day deal every year called Prime day. It was a way to gain sign-up for the prime. To participate in prime day and save more, you have to be a prime member. It will also allow you to participate if you are on a free trial. Amazon held this year’s first Prime Day in July, and the 2nd one can be held in October.
In 2022, Walmart held a Walmart+ Weekend in early June. It also includes a summer sale that coincides with Prime Day. Walmart+ offers early access to special promotions and events from Black Friday deals to game console restocks, like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. But you have to be paid member, if you are on trial, you can’t participate.
Video Streaming
Amazon Prime offers a free video streaming platform with Prime Video. It’s an OTT platform where you can find thousands of movies, docus, and series to watch from. Recently Prime video invested around $250 million to claim the rights to several Lord of the Rings prequel series. The first season of that series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is being released this September.
As a standalone service, Prime Video costs $8.99 per month, but if you are already an Amazon prime member you can enjoy it for free.
Recently Walmart+ included Paramount+ as their free video streaming platform for their subscribers. They’ll get access to the Paramount+ Essential Plan, which usually costs $59 per year. Paramount+ produces originals like Halo, Star Trek: Discovery, Evil, RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars, and the iCarly reboot. Moreover, Paramount+ hosts content from CBS, MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon. New shows and movies drop on the platform regularly.
Prescription and Pharmacy Services
Both Walmart+ and Amazon Prime offer savings on prescription services. Those who don’t have any insurance can save more by using these discount programs.
Amazon prime offers free two-day shipping on meds. You can save up to 80% while paying without insurance at over 60,000 pharmacies. If your medication is not covered by insurance and your insurance co-pay is higher than your prime subscription price, you can use prime Rx to save if you roll into a Prime subscription.
Walmart offers are similar to prime discounts. Walmart provides 85% savings and some prescriptions for free at over 4000 Walmart pharmacies. Once your free trial period is up, Walmart will provide you with a digital pharmacy savings card. You can show this card while paying for medicines. But Walmart Rx is not available in some cities like Puerto Rico, North Dakota, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Arizona, or Vermont.
Discount on Fuel
Walmart+ offers member prices on fuel. Walmart+ is giving you a discount of 10 cents per gallon of gas nearly at 2,000 Walmart, Exxon, Mobil, & Murphy stations. Also, it will also be applicable in Sam’s Club fuel centers. That’s almost over 14,000 convenient locations in 48 states.
This is what Prime doesn’t have. They don’t offer any discount on gas prices. So, It’s a great plus for walmart+ and its subscribers.
Other features
Prime offers Prime gaming formally known as Twitch, along with Amazon Fresh, Music, Prime Reading, and unlimited free photo storage for you. Walmart doesn’t have its own music streaming service like Amazon. But through March 6, 2023, it’s offering a six-month free trial to Spotify Premium, which usually costs $9.99 per month.
However, Walmart indicates that more benefits of this program will be added in the future to increase the value of this membership.
Walmart+ offers some features that make it a better choice for certain customers, such as one-hour delivery windows, touch-free in-person shopping, and a discount on gas. Its unique offerings are in its large amount of retail storefronts all across America. A total of 4,735 Walmart stores all across the USA compared to Amazon’s 27 Amazon Go stores. That is a great service in case you want something immediately and there’s a Walmart store in your area.
Which One to Pick?
If you look at pricing, Amazon costs more than walmart+. But considering Prime’s offering that wouldn’t be that much compared to Walmart+. Having said that, for $40 less, walmart+ service offerings are also a great deal. Especially if you think about the gas discount and in-store experience. You’ll receive the same low Walmart prices you’re used to with Walmart Plus, while also saving time and fuel expenses. You can compare them based on your location and needs. Which one suits you better? Having a Walmart store in your neighborhood can be a great influence to sign up for Walmart+. Nonetheless, Amazon has far more features and services to offer. You can get them both if you can effort. No one can stop you from that. But it would be best if you choose one.
You can try it yourself and find out which one is better for you. And if you do so, don’t forget to share your experience with us. I hope this discussion helps you decide on the subscription services. However, if you have any confusion or queries comment below. For eCommerce-related updates, tricks, and tips subscribe to our Ecomclips Newsletter.
