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from the beware-the-ides-of...September? dept.
Walmart+ takes aim at Amazon Prime, launches September 15:
Although it's arriving several months later than expected, Walmart's answer to Amazon Prime is finally scheduled to launch in two weeks, on September 15. Like Prime, Walmart+ offers unlimited free delivery, with some products available same-day in many markets.
Walmart+ looks cheaper than Amazon Prime at first blush—the annual prices for the services are $119 and $98, respectively—but the difference may be less relevant to each company's bottom line than it looks. Both services also offer a monthly plan, and there's effectively no cost difference there. When paid monthly, Prime and Plus are only four cents apart, at $12.99 and $12.95 per month, respectively.
Although Amazon is the incumbent in any online shopping competition, Walmart does have some advantages. Where Amazon needed to build massive distribution centers from the ground up, Walmart only needed to leverage small-scale deliveries from the distribution centers and stores it already has. Walmart can also offer some products that Amazon generally can't—you'll be able to shop online for local, fresh groceries with Walmart+, as well as get membership-based discounts on gasoline at many of Walmart's brick-and-mortar locations.
It is unknown whether Walmart will require online shoppers to wear masks.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by VLM on Wednesday September 02 2020, @08:44PM (3 children)
Hmm interesting I just got an Amazon Fresh delivery about two hours ago. Its basically "Whole Foods" in home delivery format. Generally if you order before 1st shift you can get your food delivered around early 2nd shift.
I guess there are areas that don't have Amazon Fresh but ... where? Even where I live we have service.
My local independent grocer has online pickup a little cheaper but they do not do live quantity and run a one day delay, also, bluntly, they're pretty lazy, so 10% of what I order is marked missing so I need to order from Amazon to make up the missing products who have never failed to deliver what I order.
I can shop online about three times faster than I can shop IRL so its kinda a no brainer unless I have no contract work and am so bored I'd like to wander around a store.
I suspect an enormous amount of retail is about to go away.
The biggest problem I have with walmart delivery is the products are likely walmart "quality" and everyone has horror stories about that. Frankly the idea of Walmart ground beef is scary to me.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Revek on Wednesday September 02 2020, @09:14PM (1 child)
Most places don't have amazon fresh. Nearest place is 90 minutes from where I live.
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(Score: 2) by VLM on Thursday September 03 2020, @12:45PM
Hmm interesting I looked it up and I supposedly don't have the service either in my city or in the next bigger city nearby, although obviously I do have service.
I was under the impression if there was a warehouse within driving distance then you have service, but apparently its being rolled out chaotically and the best way to tell is just to try and order and see if they let you order.
Reminds me of trying to order DSL a quarter century ago.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 03 2020, @12:20AM
Except Amazon Fresh has both a limited selection and limited options for sizes and is pretty expensive, even compared to FreshDirect. FreshDirect isn't wonderful (over the last few years they have limited sizes, and reduced the selection for produce, meat/poultry/fish and grocery items), but it's head and shoulders above AmazonFresh.
I know. I've *tried* to shop both Amazon Fresh and Amazon Whole Foods. And the selection sucks. They also push their own brands and often don't even show other brands unless you specifically search for them.
Amazon Pantry was okay for certain non-perishable items before the pandemic. Now, almost everything I might wish to purchase from them is "Unavailable. We don't know when it will be available." And given that there's a $35 minimum for free shipping, I either have to buy a bunch of shit I don't want to get the few things I do, or just go the market a block away.
There is very definitely room for competition in that area, but at least where I am (NYC), there is no Walmart.
What's more, Walmart+ would need to outperform FreshDirect, not AmazonFresh to be at all successful around here.