Walmart (NYSE: WMT) is prepared to push its Walmart+ service on consumers throughout the holiday season and is now offering subscribers early access to Black Friday deals during November. Subscribers will have early access to Black Friday events and will be able to shop deals four hours ahead of regular customers. The service offers no-minimum free shipping, free grocery delivery as well as other advantages.
The novelty could be a gamechanger for many customers worried about low inventory amid ongoing global supply chain issues. Walmart believes the exclusive access is destined to drive memberships up. Similarly, Best Buy is emphasizing its subscription service, Totaltech, by offering hard-to-find products during the holiday.
This will be the first bundle that Walmart+ carries out. Previously, the service was solely competing with Amazon Prime in terms of free delivery and other perks.
According to Accenture’s holiday shopping survey, conducted in August, one-third of consumers are worried about not being able to buy their desired products throughout the holiday season. The same amount of people revealed that they plan to complete their holiday shopping early. Moreover, within the survey, 36% said they had already observed empty shelves when shopping in stores and 26% said they had even noticed out-of-stock items online.
Walmart+ was launched approximately a year ago, right before the holiday season. The company views the service as a means to attract customers and generate loyalty. The membership costs USD98 per year or USD12.95 per month.
Nevertheless, the company has yet to disclose the number of people that have signed up for the service.
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