After they rolled out their ShippingPass program last year to compete against the likes of Amazon Prime, Walmart has decided that simply wasn’t enough. Now Marc Lore (Walmart President and CEO) has announced the Walmart will be doing away with the ShippingPass in preference of offering everyone free 2-day shipping without any need of a membership.
The plan is to meet Amazon’s shipping strategy halfway by offering free two-day shipping on any orders that total more than $35. Currently, Amazon offers something similar, but it isn’t two-day (that requires Amazon Prime or an extra charge). A smart move on their part as consumers increasingly favor online ordering to brick and mortar stores. Before this change, Walmart themselves offered free shipping in the form of “value shipping” for orders $50 or more, but that too wasn’t two-day.
This is thanks to Walmart’s acquisition of Jet.com who offers the same perk for shoppers. They will remain two different brands, however, they have merged together behind the scenes for the purposes of warehouse and supply.
At the moment, it won’t be available for everything, however, the span will cover more than two million products. You will have everything from household essentials to popular electronics and toys to choose from, meaning you will find it difficult to find items that don’t qualify.
The new change will take place at 8 a.m. (EST) on Monday, January 31st.
