Walmart unveils its new membership service Walmart+, launching Sept. 15 for $98 per year, offering free, unlimited same-day delivery, fuel discounts, and more
Walmart today officially unveiled its new membership service and Amazon Prime rival, which it's calling “Walmart+.”
Context & Ripple Effects
Walmart+ is the third act in a decade of Prime-chasing. The retailer first tried a $50/year three-day delivery club in 2015, then ShippingPass at $49/year in 2016, then killed the paid tier entirely in favor of free shipping thresholds before rebuilding around groceries with Delivery Unlimited at the same $98/year price point.
What changed today is scope and speed: after February reports of public testing of Walmart+ and a summer launch target that slipped, the program is now official — folding same-day delivery, fuel discounts, and delivery-slot perks into one bundle aimed squarely at Amazon Prime's household hold.
First-order effects
- Amazon now faces a direct subscription competitor whose same-day delivery rides on Walmart's store network as fulfillment infrastructure — the closest thing yet to Prime with a physical footprint behind it.
Second-order effects
- Amazon's grocery and fresh-delivery expansion becomes defensive rather than opportunistic, since Walmart+ gives Prime members a concrete reason to run a second membership instead of defaulting to one.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds across Walmart's repeated attempts, US retail consolidates into two competing membership ecosystems where delivery, fuel, and payments are retention levers rather than profit lines.
The trend: US retail is consolidating around paid membership ecosystems, with Walmart's store-adjacent logistics making it the only credible counterweight to Amazon Prime.