Like Amazon Prime, Walmart has its own membership service called Walmart+ (read as ‘Walmart Plus’, though sometimes styled as ‘W+’). The service launched on 15 September 2020 and has already gained between 7.4 million and 8.2 million members, as reported in February 2021.
offers members a variety of perks including discounts and free unlimited shipping – something that might pique interest ahead of major sales like Amazon’s Prime Day, which takes place over 21-22 June this year. Walmart recently announced its own massive sales event to rival Prime Day, called ‘Deals for Days’, which is to run from 20-23 June.
The Deals for Days event starts just a day before Prime Day and lasts a day longer too. While you don’t need a paid membership to shop at Walmart, a Walmart+ membership may be worth it if you want to skip delivery fees on deals this summer (and later this year over Black Friday and Christmas), while also benefiting from membership savings through the year.
Here we’re going through everything you need to know about Walmart+ including membership perks, pricing, and how to get a free trial.
What is Walmart+?
Like Amazon Prime, Walmart+ offers US customers free unlimited delivery on purchases, but also discounts at gas stations, faster checkout in-store thanks to a “Scan & Go” benefit, and money off prescriptions. Walmart says these are only the initial benefits, with more .
You can access Walmart+ via the Walmart app (/) or the . Once you have an account, you’ll just need to shop on Walmart while logged in as you would with Amazon Prime.
If you regularly shop at Walmart, a Walmart+ membership can help you save in the long term, especially when ordering groceries online. Walmart’s delivery fees range from $7.95 per order to $9.95 which can add up in the year. Walmart also offers within two hours for an additional $10.
Subscription-based unlimited delivery isn’t new to Walmart though. Walmart originally called this service Delivery Unlimited (fittingly), but the new Walmart+ service expands on Delivery Unlimited by introducing those additional perks. If you had a Delivery Unlimited membership last year, it should have automatically upgraded to a Walmart+ membership.
How much does a Walmart+ membership cost?
Walmart Plus costs $12.95 per month (plus taxes) or $98 per year (plus taxes), which works out to roughly $8.16 per month. You can switch between the two payment options at any time.
The monthly rate is still cheaper than the sum of two deliveries, so if you make more orders than that in a month the subscription will effectively pay for itself. An annual membership brings the cost down even further.
A Walmart+ membership is also marginally cheaper than Amazon Prime which costs $12.99 per month (plus taxes) or $119 per year (plus taxes). Here’s everything you need to know about Amazon Prime.
Best Walmart Deals right now – ‘Deals for Days’ Sale 2021
The following deals all qualify for free next-day shipping with Walmart+. The retailer will also kick off its Prime Day rival sale ‘Deals for Day’ on 20 June (Father’s Day). We’ll be tracking all the best offers right here:
How to get the Walmart+ free trial
Walmart offers a . You’ll need to provide your name, email address, mailing address, phone number, and credit card details.
You’ll only be charged after the 15-day period, but you can cancel at any time to avoid getting billed. You may also see a prompt to answer a survey during the sign-up process that will extend the trial period to 30 days.
Walmart+ membership benefits
Free unlimited shipping
The biggest benefit of Walmart+ is free next-day, two-day delivery, and standard shipping without a minimum order value. Without a membership, there’s a minimum order value of $35.
You’ll have to look out for items with a “W+ free shipping” tag when shopping (in the same way you would look for the ‘Prime’ logo for Prime-eligible products on Amazon).
Walmart, however, excludes oversized items and items from third-party sellers that aren’t shipped by Walmart (i.e. items shipped from third parties directly).
Free same-day delivery from your local store
You can also get free same-day delivery from your local Walmart store for your day-to-day shopping. There is a minimum $35 order value if you’re buying groceries, however.
To get free delivery from your local Walmart, you’ll simply have to choose a one-hour slot at checkout. This can be at any point in the day or a later day in the week, with the last slot available between 7-8 pm. Walmart+ also allows you to add more items to your cart after check-out as long as it’s before the cut-off time.
You can also pay $10 and opt for if you want your order within 2 hours. Express Delivery is available for non-members too, but this includes the base delivery cost of $7.95 or more.
Walmart’s same-day delivery service is similar to Amazon’s Prime Now benefit, which offers free same-day delivery via Amazon Fresh or from grocers such as Wholefoods Market in the US and Morrison’s in the UK. Amazon recently rolled Prime Now into the main Amazon service.
Discounts on prescriptions – ‘Digital Pharmacy Savings Card’
Walmart Plus members also get a “digital pharmacy savings card” which lets you save up to 85% at Walmart pharmacies with an average saving of 65%.
You can even get some prescriptions for free. Keep in mind, you can’t get the discount while on the free trial, and you can’t combine the discount with additional insurance either.
You can access the digital savings card from your or from the Walmart app. Head to the to search for the prescription you need and enter your savings card details to get your discount.
Discounts on gas
A Walmart+ membership also saves you 5¢ per gallon at Walmart, Murphy, Murphy Express, and Sam’s Club gas stations. You can see the nearest eligible stations on or through the Walmart app. You’ll need the app to access the discount though.
To get the discount at a Walmart gas station, launch the QR code scanner on the app, scan the code on the pump screen, and enter the fuel grade before you start pumping. You’ll get an e-receipt once you’re finished.
The process varies if you’re at a Murphy or Sam’s Club gas station.
Mobile check-out while in-store (mobile Scan & Go)
This benefit is ideal for those who often shop in-store. The Scan & Go option allows you to scan barcodes on items as you add them to your shopping cart, saving you from waiting around in long checkout lines. Plus, it’s contactless.
When you’re finished shopping, you simply head to the checkout kiosk and scan the QR code on the screen. This lets you pay for your groceries with your phone. If you have items that need to be weighed, like fresh produce, you can weigh them at the checkout as well.
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Walmart+ vs Amazon Prime – Which one should you get?
Walmart+ offers clear advantages to those who already shop at Walmart stores, especially if the pandemic has led you to do most of your shopping online. The service lets you save on delivery costs while offering long-term savings at the gas station and at the pharmacy.
But to know if it’s worth it, or offers better value than Amazon Prime, consider whether Walmart+’s benefits are relevant to your monthly spending habits. Where do you do most of your shopping?
In contrast to Walmart+’s perks, Amazon Prime’s benefits lie primarily within the Amazon ecosystem itself. With Prime, members get services such as Amazon Fresh, Prime Video, , and Prime Music, to list a few. If you spend much of your time online streaming music, films and TV shows, Prime may be a better option for you.
A Prime membership also offers members exclusive early access to discounts on Prime Day. While Prime Day is an excellent event for making those big-ticket purchases, like a TV or laptop, it shouldn’t be the only reason you sign up for the Prime membership.
Consider how you might use each service throughout the year, and ultimately, whether you make enough online purchases from either retailer in a month to warrant a separate membership.
Of course, if you want to get a taste of the services before you commit, you can always sign up for a free trial for or Amazon Prime. Amazon offers a longer trial period of 30 days.
