The Walmart Plus launch date is finally here and, just as the months of rumors had indicated, the membership fee is cheaper than an Amazon Prime subscription.
Walmart is charging $12.95 a month, or $98 a year, for its fast delivery service - which may come in handy for this year's Walmart Black Friday deals. The annual Walmart Plus price is the better deal. Broken down, that's just $2 a week.
Amazon Prime costs $119 a year for most of the same benefits (we'll touch on their differences in a minute), or $12.99 a month (a few cents more than Walmart Plus).
There are some major benefits if you're in the suburbs or a rural area of the US and shop in-person at Walmart. Let's go through them.
Walmart Plus benefits vs Amazon Prime
The core Walmart Plus benefits match what we've been getting from Amazon Prime for 15 years with a few differences you should know about before signing up.
Walmart Plus, like Amazon, touts unlimited free delivery, which includes same day deliveries on certain items. However, Walmart requires your order to be over $35 (before tax). Amazon only requires this for same-day deliveries. If you routinely fill up for shopping cart up, the point is moot. If not, Prime is better.
In-person is where things get interest for Walmart Plus. You can reap benefits when shopping in person at any Walmart store. Its Mobile Scan & Go feature allows you to scan items with your phone as you shop and quickly pay at the end via a QR code in the self-checkout line. Besides saving time, Scan & Go allows you to see totals in real-time, which seems legitimately helpful.
One other in-person benefit Walmart has over Amazon: Walmart Plus members can save on fuel – 5¢ per gallon – at Walmart and Murphy gas stations. There are about 1,500 locations dotting the US map, so this may or may not be a big perk for you.
Here's the one thing Amazon Prime has over Walmart Plus: Amazon Prime Video. If you're addicted to shows like The Boys or Outlander, this may be a tougher sell, especially right before Amazon Prime Day 2020, which is said to be happening soon. The same goes for some of the ebooks and music Amazon offers.
The good news is there's a 15-day Walmart Plus free trial to determine if the new service is worth it and an entire page dedicated to finding out if deliveries are available in your area.
