Shopping is becoming more digital and many people are turning to Amazon for day-to-day expenses.
Another major retailer is doing its best to offer a convenient online shopping experience – Walmart.
A few years ago, Walmart launched Walmart+, a membership program similar to Amazon Prime. While both subscriptions offer free same-day shipping on eligible orders, that’s where the similarities end.
Read on to find out how the two programs differ and how to choose the best one for you.
Walmart+ vs Amazon Prime at a glance
| Benefits and fees | Amazon Prime | walmart+ |
| Free shipping |
|
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| Benefits of streaming and content | None | |
| Benefits in store |
|
|
| Other benefits |
|
|
| Free Trial | 30 days | 30 days |
| Membership fee | $139/year or $14.99/month (discounts available for students and EBT and Medicaid cardholders) | $98/year or $12.95/month |
As you can see, while both Amazon Prime and Walmart+ offer a convenient solution for fast shipping, they are two very different memberships.
With Walmart+, you get several ways to improve your Walmart shopping experience: free fast shipping on over 180,000 items, discounts on fuel and prescriptions, and a way to avoid queues at the checkout with mobile scan and go, a feature of the Walmart app that lets you scan items as you shop at the store and pay with Walmart Pay.
With Amazon Prime, you can also get your order for free within a day, but a membership offers so much more. You also get access to subscriptions for videos, games and music, e-books and magazines, and a host of other benefits.
Prime covers multiple consumer needs with a single membership. But its annual cost is also quite high – and $41 higher than Walmart+ – to the point where some may wonder if a Prime membership is worth it or not.
So how do you choose which membership is right for you? It depends on what benefits are important to you.
When to Choose Walmart+
Walmart+ can be a great choice for frequent Walmart shoppers looking for the added convenience of free and fast shipping. The program advertises same-day delivery and one-hour delivery windows.
If you prefer grocery delivery and want to avoid shipping fees, Walmart+ might be a great option for you. Plus, the retailer is known for low food prices, which can not be said about Whole Foods Market. As for other perks, Walmart has nothing to offer other than fuel and prescription discounts and mobile scanning and launching.
Credit cards to pair with your Walmart+ membership
If saving on groceries is important to you, you can save even more on Walmart shopping with Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard®, which offers 5% cash back on purchases at Walmart.com, including pickup and grocery delivery. The card also returns 2% cashback on Walmart and gas station purchases, 2% cashback on restaurant and travel purchases, and 1% cashback on all other purchases. Plus, for your first 12 months as a cardholder, you get 5% cashback on in-store purchases using your card at Walmart Pay.
If you are a frequent traveler and value premium travel perks, Platinum Card® by American Express this is another option to consider. While it lacks any of the Walmart-specific benefits, multiple annual credits cover the full cost of a monthly Walmart+ membership.
Another card to watch out for is Chase Freedom Flex℠. Freedom Flex offered 5% cashback on Walmart purchases (up to $1,500 in purchases, then 1%) in Q4 2021, so there’s good reason to believe it will reappear sometime in 2022. In addition, the card earns 5% Refund on trips booked through the Chase Ultimate Rewards portal, 3% on restaurant and pharmacy purchases, and 1% on everything else.
When should you choose Amazon Prime
Like Walmart+, Amazon Prime offers free same-day grocery delivery if you spend a minimum of $35. However, Prime also gives you many other options for free and fast shipping of millions of items with no minimum purchase amount.
The membership also gives you access to a large Prime Video catalog and you can enjoy movies and TV shows, including original Prime content, some of which have become quite popular. You can also listen to music for free with Prime Music. You can borrow books and magazines for your ebook or app with Prime Reading and get a new free download of a new book every month with Amazon First Reads. You can even try on some items on the site before you buy them, or use the Personal Shopper to have a stylist select outfits for you for $4.99 per style.
Prime comes with so many features and offers that it can make your head spin. The membership currently includes over 20 perks, and Amazon never stops evolving.
However, the price of membership is quite high, especially if you are not a big fan of online shopping or are not interested in adding additional content subscriptions to your list.
Credit cards to pair with your Prime membership
If you’re a Prime member, the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature* Card can help you maximize the value of your membership. It offers a 5% refund on Amazon.com and Whole Foods purchases, a 2% refund on purchases at restaurants, gas stations, and pharmacies, and a 1% refund on other purchases, making it the top choice for Prime enthusiasts.
Alternatively, you can consider the Amazon Store Card, which also offers a 5% cash back on Amazon, but cannot be used outside of Amazon purchases. As a retail credit card, this may be an option if you don’t have a perfect credit score.
The Discover it Cash Back card is also a great card for online shopping enthusiasts. Discover has already announced its 2022 cashback calendar, and you can get 5% cashback on Amazon.com purchases (up to $1,500 for combined purchases, then 1%) in the fourth quarter of 2022. Just be sure to sign up at the beginning of the quarter to start earning rewards.
bottom line
Walmart+ and Amazon Prime may be competitors, but they cater to two different types of shoppers. The former can be a great choice for those who want groceries delivered regularly and appreciate inexpensive options. The latter is for frequent Amazon shoppers who know they can make the most of the many benefits that come with a membership.
If you’re not sure which membership to choose, feel free to take advantage of the free trial before taking action. Both Walmart+ and Amazon Prime give you 30 days to see if their membership matches your spending habits.
*All Visa Signature Card Amazon Prime Rewards information has been collected by independent creditcards.com and has not been verified by the issuer.
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