topic Re: Walmart developing membership plan in Community Chat

Walmart developing membership plan

novamc1 — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 12:08:53 GMT

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/walmarts-new-membership-program-cant-beat-amazon-prime-experts-say-2020-02-28

Excerpt from story...........

Walmart Inc. confirmed it will be launching a membership program, Walmart+, that’s already being called a rival to Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime program............

Walmart declined to give any detail about the benefits that come with Walmart+ membership. Nevertheless, some are already forecasting that it will fall short of the perks that Prime has become known for.

Read:Walmart could run into privacy issues in its efforts to get personal with customers, analysts say

“The thing to anticipate is that they will go in at a dramatically reduced price because that’s really in many ways when you look at the potential features they can offer, the only one they can go in with,” said Stephen Beck, managing partner at cg42, a management consulting firm.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Snoopp — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 12:51:43 GMT

I would be interested in looking at this. I just received a Walmart order yesterday.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

BrandiDavis — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 12:51:56 GMT

@novamc1 Thanks for sharing....It'll definitely be interesting to see what they come out with! I can imagine there will be some shipping perk(s), but as the article said they will HAVE to make it cost effective/efficient.

I think Walmart NEEDS to do something otherwise Amazon is eventually going to shut em' down...In my opinion....oh, and I know NOTHING about business, but just as a consumer it seems like A is so much more advanced and appealing as the ONLY difference really is, that you can GO to Walmart, whereas, with A it's all online...but, this day in age MOST people like to do their shopping online, so like I said Walmart is gonna have to do something to keep up and hopefully this will work for them!

I actually LIKE having a physical store to go for groceries anyways. I cannot imagine having someone do my grocery/food shopping for me. For instance, I ALWAYS make sure I get the farthest date on items (ie: bread, milk, sour cream, cheese, etc) plus I like to pick out my own produce... Now, for people that are disabled or are just okay with others picking out their stuff then its a wonderful service., but just not for me.

I've never done it, but I could see doing like household products on the Walmart pick up deal they have....That kind of stuff I don't worry about dates lol...So, we'll see maybe eventually I'll move up to the 2020 way of life...LOL

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

novamc1 — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 13:06:18 GMT

@BrandiDavis

I'm sort of like you....... I'm ..a control freak who wants to spend time digging for the best "sell by" date on perishable items (and even nonperishable ones!) and selecting my own fresh foods.

Delegating those tasks will never be easy for me.

I see hired and designated cart shoppers in all the grocery stores where I shop and have watched them.......they're looking at their hand-held computers at a person's shopping list, and just grabbing " whatever" off the shelves. Most are shopping for multiple customers, so I hope each customer gets the merchandise they wanted!

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

grandma petes — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 13:18:27 GMT

I would consider having a Walmart membership, but only if they can match or exceed all the perks from Amazon. As far as ordering my groceries on line, I'm very picky about the food I select, so not sure I would use that feature...but everything else, sure.

I think QVC should look into this as well. If I could get the same perks, such as free shippping and free returns, I would be more inclined to order from QVC, but the shipping/return shipping charges are too costly. And shipping times can be too slow....

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Cakers3 — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 14:24:44 GMT

@BrandiDavis I totally agree with you about shopping for my food in person.

I like seeing all the colors of fresh produce; and anything perishable I want the best date. I've been known to take items from the front to get to the ones in the back with the better date. Of course I put all the rest back.

DH just shakes his head. LOL

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

MezzieStarr — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 14:34:13 GMT

Hmmmm. Wal-Mart had this before. From 2015 - 2017. It was called ShippingPass and cost $49.00 a year to get free 2 day shipping.

Then they dropped it for free shipping for all with a $35.00 purchase.

I personally won't be buying anymore memberships. I have Prime and where I live Amazon never gets the packages to me faster than 3-4 days.

I've learned to send an email every time they do this. They compensate you with a credit on your account. It has varied from $5.00 to $15.00 depending on what customer service rep you get.

At least their slow shipping is slowly paying for my Prime membership.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

gardenman — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 14:37:00 GMT

I don't see this being all that effective for Walmart. They can't do a lot of the stuff Amazon does for Prime members. Walmart stores are generally in easy reach of most consumers already. One's literally five minutes from my house.

A home delivery service that also delivered prescription drugs filled by their pharmacy could be helpful if allowed. (God only knows what local, state, and federal rules would apply.) If you're sick in bed, or tending to a sick relative, having the prescription delivered to your door could be very handy.

They'd likely have to send a pharmacist with the drugs to answer any questions the consumer had. Maybe some sort of video chat with the pharmacist as a courier hands over the drugs could be substituted?

I think Walmart has to stop trying to match Amazon and do something that forces Amazon to match Walmart. Become the leader and not the follower. Force Walmart to adapt to what you're doing instead of the other way around.

Walmartizing (for lack of a better word) health care could be an interesting move. Clinics in every store and Walmart branded hospitals offering lower costs, but high-quality care might be effective. A Walmart health plan offered to the public nationwide at a fair price might be pretty effective also. Even offering house calls for the ill could be done if they chose to.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

BrandiDavis — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 14:39:01 GMT

@Cakers3 wrote:
@BrandiDavis I totally agree with you about shopping for my food in person.

I like seeing all the colors of fresh produce; and anything perishable I want the best date. I've been known to take items from the front to get to the ones in the back with the better date. Of course I put all the rest back.

DH just shakes his head. LOL

@Cakers3 I promise you're not alone, I do the SAME exact thing LOL

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

songbird — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 14:59:19 GMT

You can get almost anything through Amazon. If you want something, it's there. Not so much with Walmart. I have personal stigma against Walmart. It's China on wheels. I thought their cheap products were just as cheap in quality. I get better quality through Amazon. Walmart grocery delivery is not much. Half the stuff, is not available for delivery.

We've been with Amazon since the beginning. We get anything we want from Amazon and do our weekly grocery from them. It's called Amazon Fresh....and it lives up to it's name. We get salads from that are very fresh.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Daysdee — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 15:04:37 GMT

I'm a senior and in a compromised health condition. I ordered from a shopping service yesterday. It wasn't as good as my previous order which was a few months ago, but I will "go with it." I may have to do more of it in the future. I will have to adjust. It was nice I didn't have to go out in bad weather and also the virus issues. I'm comfortable that I have a good supply on hand. (I order from Amazon a lot and Walmart, but don't order "fresh food" from either. I do like their fast delivery and free shipping.)

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

FiddleDeeDee — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 15:32:46 GMT

We don't support Amazon and order many items from Walmart so this may be a good thing for my family.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Spurt — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 15:56:48 GMT

@novamc1

It's true what they say....EVERYTHING THAT GOES AROUND, EVENTUALLY COMES ROUND ....

I remember years ago when I was a kid when my mom shopped at membership stores like GulfMart (it was much different than warehouse membership stores of today---Costco or Sams Club).....

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Cakers3 — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 16:01:19 GMT

I don't remember any membership stores growing up. Maybe they were more regional.

BJ's was the first one we joined back in the '90's.

I do remember GreenStamps and Blue Stamps, though. Not a membership issue, though, but I remember the little stores where you would bring your books filled with the stamps.

You had to fill 50 books just to get a toaster. LOL

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

deepwaterdotter — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 16:06:17 GMT

@Cakers3 wrote:
I don't remember any membership stores growing up. Maybe they were more regional.

BJ's was the first one we joined back in the '90's.

I do remember GreenStamps and Blue Stamps, though. Not a membership issue, though, but I remember the little stores where you would bring your books filled with the stamps.

You had to fill 50 books just to get a toaster. LOL

I remember Plaid Stamps too. My mother saved until she could redeem for my first Bible. I haven't thought about that for years. Thank you for spurring a sweet memory.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Spurt — Mon, 09 Mar 2020 01:46:38 GMT

@novamc1 @BrandiDavis

I use Instacart for grocery delivery a lot from our main grocery store chain, HEB... ...especially when I need heavy items like 30 lb bags of kitty litter, laundry soap etc etc....I was hesistant with things like produce, deli orders etc......but gave it a try.....

These shoppers are well trained they ALWAYS check for the farthest expiration dates, pick the best produce, and if its out of stock you can select a replacement item on your list or they can call you to advise what's available....

I have ALWAYS received excellent service and have been very pleased and got EXACTLY what I ordered and it was as if I had shopped at the store myself...They always ask you rate your shopper and driver (sometimes they can be the same person, most of the time its a different person from shopper and delivery driver...)

Now this was Instacart and I dont know what other shopping/delivery store services are like---like Shipt, or Favor or Amazon'a Whole Foods Delivery Service etc...And am not excited about Walmart's produce selection or deli offerings to start, so I dont know if Walmarts would be as good as HEB/Instacart!

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Snoopp — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 16:58:57 GMT

Our grocery does a big business in home delivery. I am thinking of trying it or at least the pickup option. I worry about keeping the cold items cold though.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

proudlyfromNJ — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 17:04:12 GMT

@Snoopp wrote:
Our grocery does a big business in home delivery. I am thinking of trying it or at least the pickup option. I worry about keeping the cold items cold though.

@Snoopp When our groceries were delivered, the cold items were in blue bags as opposed to the normal color. I assumed they kept those bags in some type of refrigerated part of the truck. Don’t know for sure just guessing.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Snoopp — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 17:05:17 GMT

@proudlyfromNJ thank you. I’ve been wondering about this for a while now.

Re: Walmart developing membership plan

Jordan2 — Sun, 08 Mar 2020 17:10:33 GMT

I have a Wal-Mart Superstore near me, I hardly ever go. No matter what time of day or week ( I go as soon as the store is opened), it's a zoo! The people that shop there are rude, and don't get me started on the parking lot!