Walmart Plus: Price, launch date and everything you need to know - Tom's Guide

Get ready for the biggest retailer battle of the century. Walmart Plus is a new membership program that will reportedly launch this month. The service will directly compete against Amazon Prime and if recent reports are accurate, it could undercut Amazon on price while offering similar perks.

Walmart hasn't made any public comments about the service, but it has launched a Walmart Plus teaser website that indicates the service is "almost here." The landing page also mentions "saving money," so Walmart Plus is bound to include other perks, like deals and promos.

According to Vox.com, Walmart Plus will launch this month. A Walmart spokesperson confirmed the membership offering and name to Tom's Guide, but declined to comment further. Here's what we've heard about Walmart Plus so far, and how it compares to Amazon Prime based on the latest leaks.

What is Walmart Plus?

Walmart Plus is a new subscription service that will reportedly include same-day delivery of groceries and other merchandise.

Walmart Plus appears to be a rebranding of Walmart's $98-per-year Grocery Unlimited service. The grocery delivery service launched last year and quickly expanded to 1,400 additional stores in September of 2019.

However, the Walmart Plus landing page depicts groceries alongside tech, beauty, and sports products. So it seems as though Walmart Plus will include all sorts of products sold at Walmart. Vox also reports that the service will include early access to product deals and discounts on fuel at Walmart gas stations.

According to the meta description for the Walmart Plus landing page, the service will offer free unlimited same-day delivery on groceries and thousands of other items. It also states that Walmart Plus will help members "get even more benefits from your store to help you save money and live better."

Walmart Plus price

The price of Walmart Plus has not been confirmed, but reports suggest that Walmart may stick with a $98 annual fee. This would be cheaper than Amazon's $119 annual cost for Amazon Prime. However, there could be different price tiers of Walmart Plus with different perks based on the tier consumers choose.

Walmart Plus perks

Walmart Plus will reportedly include same-day delivery of groceries and other products, reserved deliver slots, and limited access to Walmart's new Express two-hour delivery offering. You can also expect early access to deals on products and discounts on fuel at Walmart gas stations.

The earlier Vox report says that Walmart Plus may enable customers to use text messaging to place orders. Other perks could include discounts on prescription drugs. Plus, Walmart Plus members may be able to check out in Walmart Stores without waiting in line, building on the retailer's previous Scan & Go service.

Walmart also reportedly has plans to add video entertainment to go up against Amazon Prime Video. Big partnerships could be on the way, but for now a family entertainment offering called CAMP by Walmart will be free to all Walmart app users this summer.

Furthermore, it's no secret that Walmart and Amazon price match each other, especially on retail holidays like Amazon Prime Day. The renewed rivalry could make for excellent deals once Walmart Plus officially launches.

Walmart Plus vs. Amazon

Once the country's top retailer, Walmart has watched as Amazon has dominated online sales. Amazon now accounts for roughly 38% of all online retail sales in the U.S., according to eMarketer. By comparison, Walmart is a distant second place with just over 5% of the U.S. e-commerce market. The hope is that Walmart Plus will help it take some of that market share from Amazon.

This isn't the first time Walmart has taken on Amazon Prime. In 2015, Walmart launched ShippingPass, an unlimited online shipping service that cost $50 per year and promised deliveries in three days or less. This was Walmart's attempt to undercut Amazon Prime, which at the time cost $99 per year. Two years later, Walmart dropped its membership fee and switched to a 2-day free shipping program on orders of $35 or more.

However, Walmart's biggest chest thump came in 2016, when it purchased Jet.com for $3 billion. The hope was that Jet.com would help Walmart establish a bigger online presence. (Walmart announced last month that it was permanently closing Jet.com).

The Walmart vs. Amazon feud continued into 2019. Just as Amazon announced its plans to offer 1-day shipping, Walmart followed suit with its own 1-day shipping pilot. Most recently, Walmart announced 2-hour Express delivery for an additional $10 over Walmart's typical delivery fees.

Even on big retailer days like Black Friday, Walmart has shadowed Amazon with similar sales of its own like last holiday's Big Drop Sale. Walmart Plus is an extension of this ongoing battle and only time will tell if it's the true knockout punch that it needs to take on Amazon and its legion of subscribers.

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