Walmart will test an unlimited shipping service this summer that will have a price point of $50 per year. The free shipping service will battle Amazon Prime shipping, and will offer three-day delivery for over 1 million products.
The retail giant will launch a beta version of the unnamed shipping service in the next weeks. Various items included in the shipping plan will be labeled or flagged on the Walmart website. Walmart offers over 7 million products for sale online.
Amazon claims that customers can purchase among 20 million products through Amazon Prime, according to Geek Wire. This is among over 200 million products on sale in the United States.
The function of the new Walmart unlimited shipping is as a market test. Such tests collect Walmart customer information about offline shopping and online shopping, according to Tech Crunch.
Past e-commerce tests Walmart has done in the past include grocery delivery and sample boxes. It is still testing home delivery and store pickup services at local restaurants in cities such as Phoenix and Denver.
An Amazon Prime membership already provides delivery that is fast and free. However, Walmart is likely testing if a lower price point would attract customers.
The Amazon Prime shipping cost is $99 per year, and guarantees orders will arrive within two days. Walmart will test if its customers would wait one more day, while paying 50 percent less than Amazon Prime shipping.
However, the Amazon Prime membership program provides much value for the cost. Besides free shipping it also includes features such as unlimited photo storage, and free music streaming and video streaming,
Another key issue is the head start that Amazon has over Walmart. Amazon Prime was launched a decade ago, and based on some estimates already has over 40 million members.
Ravi Jariwala, Walmart spokesman, observed that customers want shipping that is "predictable" and "affordable." The new Walmart shipping test will determine if a new shipping plan would help to serve its customers better.