Walmart is at it again, trying to compete with a 1,000 pound gorilla known as Amazon Prime. This time it’s with a new service called Walmart+ which is set to go live on September 15th. In this article I breakdown exactly what Walmart+ is and if it’s a viable replacement to Amazon Prime.

The TLDR version is Walmart+ is a sad effort to try and compete with what Prime offers, especially when you look at the relatively similar costs of each.

What Exactly is Walmart+

Walmart+ is a new membership program that launches on September 15th that offers time & money saving benefits to shoppers.

Let’s break it all down…

What Are the Main Features of Walmart+?

As the program stands right now, there are 3 main features.

1. Unlimited Free Grocery Delivery

This is FAR and AWAY the best feature.

With Walmart+ you’ll be able to shop the Walmart website and do all your grocery shopping and get unlimited free delivery on $35 or more.

To make the delivery happen, you select your time slot and Walmart does the rest. FYI: Time slots begin at 4 hours from the time of your order.

But it doesn’t stop at just groceries as you’ll also be able to shop for tech items, household supplies, toys, and more. Over 160,000 items to be exact.

2. Fuel Discounts

You can save up to 5 cents per gallon at “Walmart, Murphy USA and Murphy Express fuel stations”.

Sam’s Club gas stations will soon join this list as well.

5 cents a gallon? WOW…I’ll finally be able to retire early. C’mon Walmart, you can do better than this.

3. Scan and Go via the Walmart App

This could be helpful, especially since many shoppers would rather not have to go through the checkout aisle.

Scan & Go lets you use the Walmart app to scan your items as you shop in-store.

You would then pay with Walmart Pay and show evidence of your purchase to the person at the door as you exit.

See Also: Want Free Groceries Delivery? These 7 Delivery Promotions are a MUST

What Does Walmart+ Cost?

There are currently 2 payment options.

You can pay a monthly fee of $12.95 or an annual $98 fee.

If you opt for the annual route you’ll save just over $57.

I’d suggest taking advantage of the 15-day free trial to see if it’s right for you before committing to the annual fee.

How Can It Be Better?

Simple. Add some REAL value to shoppers.

As it stands right now, Walmart+ already exists.

It’s called Walmart Delivery Unlimited and costs $98/year or $12.95/month.

Walmart is trying to pull the wool over our eyes and throw in some gas savings and a new app feature to make it look like some amazing new service.

They would have been MUCH better off not introducing Walmart+ until they had additional benefits in place like a streaming service, cloud service, or 1-hour guaranteed delivery.

What Happens to Walmart “Delivery Unlimited”?

The Walmart “Delivery Unlimited” program goes away as we know it on September 15th and gets swallowed up by Walmart+.

This means that if you’re currently enrolled in the program you’ll automatically get moved over to Walmart+ on this date.

Not a big deal as “Delivery Unlimited” is essentially the same program (and cost) as Walmart+, add the gas savings and Scan & Go feature.

See Also: Walmart In-Home Delivery: The Pros and Cons So You Can Decide If It’s For You

Should Amazon Be Concerned?

No, absolutely NOT in my opinion.

First of all, the free unlimited shipping that Walmart+ is offering is really not a replacement for Prime.

Think of Walmart’s service as free grocery delivery. Think of Prime as free delivery on pretty much EVERYTHING else.

Secondly, and more importantly, the perks that come with Prime far outweigh what Walmart is offering.

A few that jump to mind include Prime Music, Prime Video, Audible, and Unlimited Photo Storage.

Many of these perks can actually be replacements for services like Netflix, Hulu, Spotify and Pandora easily saving you $30-$40 a month.

Might Walmart start offering more perks like these? Probably. But as it stands right now, the perks you get with Prime far outweigh what Wally World is offering.

And….Prime only costs $20 more per year than Walmart+, making the clear winner Amazon.

Ask the Reader: Am I being too hard on this new service from Walmart? Are you going to signup and give it a try?

By Kyle James

Photo courtesy of Walmart.