Walmart is taking shots at Amazon and Costco with a new membership bundle for Sam's Club
By
Dominick Reuter
You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Dominick Reuter/Business Insider
Walmart rolled out a perk for its Plus membership programs, taking a shot at rivals Amazon and Costco.
The retail giant said Tuesday that it is offering a membership bundle that includes Walmart Plus and Sam's Club Plus for $120 per year.
That means existing Sam's Club Plus members now effectively get Walmart Plus included, and Walmart Plus members can add the premium-level club membership for an additional $22.
CEO John Furner took a not-so-subtle jab at Amazon and Costco in a statement announcing the news.
"Consider what people may be paying today: $139 for a retail membership with delivery. $130 for a warehouse club," he said, referring to their respective fees.
Walmart has been taking sharp aim at both retail competitors, with membership perks that overlap in several areas, like streaming entertainment, pharmacy services, and deals from partner businesses.
The biggest perk for Plus members — whether at Walmart or Sam's Club — is an increasingly fast delivery operation that fulfills orders from stores and clubs in as little as 30 minutes. Some orders have arrived in fewer than 10 minutes.
"The bundled offering screens as another signal of WMT pushing more value into its overall ecosystem, and highlighting its rapid delivery capabilities," Mizuho analyst David Bellinger said in a note.
Walmart doesn't disclose membership counts or fee revenue, but Mizuho estimates the chains have about 25 million Walmart Plus members and 30 million Sam's Club members. The bank also estimates an overlap of about 10% between Walmart and Sam's Club members.
Globally, Costco reported more than 150 million membership cardholders, and Amazon is estimated to have more than 220 million Prime members.
Read next
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Business Insider tells the innovative stories you want to know
Dominick Reuter
You're currently following this author! Click to unsubscribe from email alerts.
Dominick Reuter is a senior retail reporter for Business Insider, primarily covering Walmart, Target, Costco, and other big box retailers. His stories tend to focus on issues and trends that affect employees and customers, such as affordability challenges and the growing race to provide ultra-fast delivery services on e-commerce orders.Prior to joining BI in 2019, Dominick worked for more than a decade as an independent photojournalist covering a wide range of stories for global wire services and newspapers, including Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, and Agence France-Presse.Dominick studied photojournalism at Boston University and later earned a Masters in business and economics journalism from Columbia University.If you're an employee or customer with a story to share, please contact me via email or text/call/Signal at 646-768-4750.
- Walmart
- Costco
- Amazon
- More