Walmart set to test $50-a-year unlimited delivery service
US retailer Walmart will be testing an unlimited three-day delivery service for online shoppers this summer. The new service – which reportedly has been assigned the codename “Tahoe” – is being as described as Walmart’s answer to Amazon’s Prime.
However, Walmart’s $50-a-year price ticket means that it is just half the cost of Prime – and the budget price means that “Tahoe” doesn’t come with Prime’s side benefits of streaming movies, music and lending library. Amazon Prime also offers a faster service – two days or less, rather than Walmart’s three – and delivery on Sundays.
Walmart believes that its customers will warm to the idea of a delivery service which focuses on being “affordable” and “predictable”, rather than offering extra benefits.
Walmart currently offers free shipping on online orders with a value of at least $50. There has been no official announcement from Walmart, but company sources have let it be known that the $50 unlimited shipping service will be “by invitation only” and include more than a million products.
