Walmart recently announced that it is now testing a “Delivery Unlimited” subscription for $98 per year in some areas.
While a nod to Amazon’s highly successful Prime premium loyalty program, does it really compare?
How Does Delivery Unlimited Work?
In the past, Walmart grocery customers order online and pick them up locally for free. Or, they could opt to pay to have them delivered.
Delivery Unlimited is a new, membership-based option that allows customers the per-order delivery which could cost anywhere from $7.95 – $9.95.
Currently available in Houston, Miami, Salt Lake City, and Tampa, Walmart’s “Delivery Unlimited” has a monthly price of $12.95 for unlimited deliveries.
Both the annual and monthly subscriptions carry a 15-day trial period.
This is especially great for people who regularly get groceries delivered from Walmart, but it still gives the less frequent shoppers the option of paying per order.
How Does Walmart’s Grocery Delivery Program Stack Up?
The price point places Delivery Unlimited squarely in the competitive mix that includes Shipt ($99 for a similar service) and Instacart ($99).
This move by Walmart also seems to undercut Prime’s $119 annual fee.
However, Prime members get a lot more than Whole Foods grocery delivery with their memberships.
A Prime membership also includes fast, free shipping on millions of other non-grocery items as well as video content, music and much more.
Where Walmart Needs to Deliver
Meeting and exceeding consumer expectations and desires is a common theme for retailers seeking competitive differentiation.
It sounds simple, but it’s true: Always listen to your customers, identify their pain points, and offer a solution to solve them.
Walmart officials identified delivery as a pain point for customers. Launching a program that solves that problem makes them very competitive in the grocery category.
But Walmart needs to go beyond just grocery if it hopes to compete with Amazon.
Is this Walmart’s bid to enhance its customer experience?
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