When it comes to all-in-one subscription services, two giants dominate the conversation: Amazon Prime and Walmart+. Both memberships are designed to offer shopping convenience, exclusive deals, and, most notably, grocery delivery. But with their growing range of features, which one truly gives you more value for your dollar? Let's break down the benefits, pricing, and critical features of both to help you decide if Amazon Prime or Walmart+ fits your lifestyle better.
Overview: What Do Amazon Prime and Walmart+ Offer?
What does one get, or has become known to associate with, an essential subscription offering free two-day shipping under the names Amazon Prime or Walmart+, something that a few years earlier would hardly be related to? It starts with this same service initially offered, for which this name is prime.
The newest, coming from a company with a very long history in retail, is Walmart+. The firm has taken advantage of its broad network of stores to offer same-day delivery, fuel savings, and grocery benefits within Walmart+.
Here's what each membership offers:
Amazon Prime: Free shipping, Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading, and Whole Foods discounts.
Walmart+: Free delivery from local stores, fuel discounts, mobile scan & go, and free shipping with no minimum.
Price Comparison: Which Membership Costs Less?
The bottom line is what typically determines any subscription service.
Amazon Prime: The most expensive one is Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime is available for a whole year at $139 and $14.99 a month. However, to avail of all the added benefits other than shopping and grocery delivery, it still provides an extensive range. Another student version, called Amazon Prime Student, can be availed, and students can pay with fewer dollars but enjoy nearly all the standard benefits.
Walmart+: This can be had for $98 a year or $12.95 a month. That is clearly less money. This makes it very attractive if you shop at Walmart that often for groceries.
As you look at price, you need to balance what you get from each service with their price.
Grocery Delivery and Shopping Benefits
When grocery delivery is an option at your location, the fact that you can order groceries online and have them delivered may seem to make the membership cost worth it. Let's drill down into that.
Amazon Prime's Grocery Delivery
The most significant investments have been made in the grocery delivery part by AmazonFresh and after the purchase of Whole Foods. Here is what Prime has in store for its users:
Amazon Fresh: Offered to certain areas, Amazon Fresh has a good selection of groceries and house items; this is delivered for free once an order goes over the minimum amount
Discounts: Whole Foods Offers 10% discounts at Whole Foods stores on chosen items, besides weekly exclusive deals.
Free Delivery: For prime members, Walmart+ offers free delivery on any order that meets the qualifying criteria. There is an option for same-day, one-day, or two-day delivery.
Walmart+ Grocery Delivery
Grocery delivery is a prominent feature of Walmart+. The following is what Walmart+ members enjoy:
Free Delivery from Local Stores: This means groceries and other items that people often shop for at Walmart are typically delivered on the same day.
No delivery fees: Delivery is made with no additional delivery fee by Walmart+ membership, except if a minimum requirement is reached in some locations.
Broad availability: Having tens of thousands of outlets spread around the country puts Walmart+ in a good position for quick delivery to almost any region.
The Verdict: If grocery delivery is the main reason you're signing up, Walmart+ has a cost and delivery network advantage. However, suppose you want to have access to a broader selection and more organic or specialty items. In that case, Amazon's combination of Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods discounts may be more attractive to you.
Entertainment Perks
One of the significant pluses of Amazon Prime is the entertainment perks, which Walmart+ doesn't offer as of yet.
Prime Video: Thousands of movies, TV shows, and original content.
Prime Music: Ad-free access to over 2 million songs
Prime Reading: eBooks, magazines, and comics that change each month
Amazon First Reads: Free or discounted price for early access to selected new books for Prime members.
If entertainment and streaming matter to you, you're going to want to put more value in the various forms of music, video, and reading offered with an Amazon Prime membership over what Walmart+ or others are offering.
Shipping Benefits and Shopping Perks
Given that shipping benefits were what defined the early days of both Amazon Prime and Walmart+ let's play this as a battle between the two services when it comes strictly to shipping advantages.
Amazon Prime Shipping Perks
Prime benefits provide one of the world's largest shipping networks on the planet, encompassing the following:
Free Two-Day Shipping: Today, there are hundreds of millions of items on Amazon.
Same-Day and One-Day Delivery: Available for some items, depending on location
Free Release-Date Delivery: New and trending releases, including books, movies, and video games
Amazon Day: This feature allows Prime members to set a preferred day for delivery each week. This will reduce the number of packages arriving at your location.
Walmart+ Shipping Perks
Walmart+ members receive the following shipping benefits:
Free Shipping No Minimum: Walmart+ free next-day and two-day shipping on most items with no order minimum.
Same- Day Delivery: Same-day pickup from local stores, available for groceries, etc. and this is an excellent option if you need something for immediate use.
Verdict: Here, Amazon Prime gains the upper hand with the quicker options: release-date delivery and even Amazon Day. Walmart+ shines instead in places where having same-day delivery means a lot, especially regarding grocery and household items from its local stores.
More Bonuses: Gas Savings, Cell Phone Rewards, and More
This is how Walmart+ starts to create some difference from the above general shipping and delivery.
Fuel Savings: Walmart+ customers can enjoy up to 10 cents per gallon off at places like Murphy USA and participating Sam's Club stores. That can really add up, especially if you drive a lot.
Scan & Go: Walmart+ members can scan items in stores, pay through the application, and skip the checkout line. Great if you are a frequent Walmart shopper.
More than the in-store perks, Amazon Prime is actually all about digital perks. There's a lot beyond entertainment where Amazon-specific features for which Prime members gain access to, such as:
Twitch Prime: Get free in-game loot and a free Twitch channel subscription each month for gamers.
Prime Wardrobe: Try before you buy on select clothing items.
Amazon Family: Get discounts on baby products and curated recommendations.
Who Should Choose Amazon Prime?
Amazon Prime is great for giving total convenience and shopping for entertaining packages all at once. Herein, Prime finds much strength in its catalog with rich entertainment and shipment for one, which thus makes Amazon Prime suitable for use on household levels or even business levels if they often purchase vast diversified items.
These users would find some sort of value in the provision:
Frequent Buyers: With constant buying from Amazon in several genres, free two-day or same-day shipping is precious for saving a considerable amount of time for those customers.
Entertainment Beagles: With Prime Video, Music, and Reading, those who want these stream sources, all without additional subscriptions, are being offered such an experience on Amazon Prime.
Book readers: The services provided on the lines of Prime Reading and especially Amazon First Reads elevate the value coming their way at Amazon by using such a service as being worthwhile for someone using large blocks of time reading a great deal.
Walmart+: Who Should get it?
Probably enjoy this service the most would be those who find great comfort in the facility for buying groceries and household items at convenience, which, for the most part, shop from Walmart. And within this price tag that can be offered annually, this looks balanced and, to top that off, probably fit only for the highly careful penny-pinchers out there.
The most suitable ones for paying out good money for Walmart+ should include the following customer categories.
Grocery Buyers: The ones who frequently purchase groceries or essential items at a house daily always love the same-day picking of items at such convenient places as local supermarkets, for instance.
Drivers: Fuel savings quickly add up when heading to the store or returning from work.
In-Store Shoppers: Whenever you enjoy shopping within your neighborhood Walmart, you appreciate the scan-and-go integration.
Conclusion
Finally, it depends on your lifestyle and the perks that matter to you.
Choose Amazon Prime if you want to avail all the best benefits that include packages pertaining to shopping, streaming, and cloud storage options.
Choose Walmart+ if you like grocery shopping, fuel savings, and in-store experience at Walmart.
Amazon Prime and Walmart+ are both packed with benefits, but the two cater to different needs in shopping and lifestyle. Take a moment to think of what you want most, then choose the membership best suited to your daily routines and interests.
