Walmart tries to win the holiday shopping wars with a big membership deal

Walmart on Tuesday launched a big opening attack in the fight to win holiday shopping dollars.

For the first time, the retail giant is offering a major discount on its Walmart membership, enticing new members with a year-long trial of the program for $49. That’s half off the usual price. The deal runs through Thursday, Walmart said.

Walmart gives members free delivery of groceries and other items, as well as early access to Black Friday deals, discounted gas, and access to streaming services Paramount and Spotify.

The deal is not available to current Walmart members.

“We are offering half off the Walmart membership now so that as many customers as possible can take advantage of early access to the hottest holiday deals this season,” Chris Cracchiolo, SVP and general manager for Walmart , said in a statement.

Walmart, the country's largest grocery retailer, launched its Walmart membership program in September 2020, as shoppers increasingly turned to delivery amid the pandemic. At launch, the program cost $98 a year or $12.95 a month.

Walmart members can spend another $40 a year (for a total of $139, or $1 less than Amazon Prime) to enroll in the retailer’s in-home delivery program in which a Walmart employee will put groceries and other items away.

Amazon’s Prime membership program currently costs $139 per year or $14.99 per month and offers a suite of benefits, up from $119 a year/$13 per month last year. Prime offers a suite of benefits, including free shipping, streaming services, savings at Whole Foods, Amazon fresh and Amazon.com and others. Members get free delivery on Amazon Fresh orders over $35. There’s no delivery minimum for Walmart .

Walmart and Amazon continue to fight for shoppers, though Walmart remains the clear victor in terms of grocery sales.

“Walmart’s advantage over Amazon in the grocery sector—a byproduct of its brick-and-mortar presence and reputation for low prices—has strengthened this year,” according to a new report from Austin-based e-commerce data and market analytics firm Jungle Scout. “As inflation continues to impact spending and shopping habits, more than half of U.S consumers most often turn to Walmart for groceries, compared to 15% who most often buy them from Amazon.com.”

Walmart’s prices are a big draw, the study found, with 43% of consumers saying they shop at Walmart versus Amazon because of lower prices.

Walmart’s membership program, though, lags behind Amazon’s, according to Jungle Scout, which found that 31% of consumers have access to a Walmart account but 57% of shoppers have access to an Amazon Prime account.