Walmart launched a subscription program in September 2020 called Walmart+, and it already has about 8 million members, according to Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, LLC (CIRP). That compares to the approximately 142 million US members in Amazon Prime, which launched in 2005.
Josh Lowitz, Partner and cofounder of CIRP, said after Walmart retired the acquired Jet.com brand, and possibly with a boost from the pandemic, the retailer now has a substantial online presence, which he called comparable in some ways to Amazon. “At $1,000 per year for the average Walmart.com customer, average annual spending is remarkably similar to the long-term figure for Amazon,” Walmart is still early in the growth of its online business, so there are key differences in scale, he noted.
Another interesting data point from CIRP: Walmart+ members account for 14% of Walmart.com customers, compared to the two-thirds of Amazon.com customers who are Amazon Prime members.
A key factor for Walmart.com: it is succeeding in taking advantage of the company’s dominant grocery business, according to CIRP partner and cofounder Mike Levin.
CIRP, “which provides securities research to the investment community using advanced consumer market research strategies, methods, and techniques,” based its findings on surveys of 500 US subjects who made a purchase at Walmart.com in the period from November 2020-January 2021.
Malwart and Amazoo shall forever be known as the two companies that bred the Buyer Entitlement Attitude.