Starting on Friday, December 4, Walmart is removing the $35 minimum order requirement in order to qualify for free next-day and two-day shipping. This new policy is on everything Walmart sells accept for groceries. Grocery orders will still require the $35 shipping minimum.

Walmart Plus launched back during September 2020 as a rival to Amazon Prime. For $98 per year (or monthly at $12.95 a month), Walmart Plus gives subscribers free shipping benefits on a couple hundred thousand items sold on Walmart.

The $35 cart minimum was previously a negative aspect of using Walmart Plus, as Amazon offers free shipping on all Prime-eligible items, regardless of order size. While the service is cheaper than Prime, Walmart Plus also lags behind Amazon Prime significantly in offering additional perks, like the Amazon Instant Video service or free eBooks via Kindle services.

Anyone interested in Walmart+ can sign up for a free, 15-day trial of the service here. Could be handy for holiday gift shopping, especially if Amazon struggles with inventory.

Walmart ends $35+ free shipping requirement for Walmart+ subscribers

After testing a grocery delivery service for the past year, Walmart is launching an unlimited delivery service for $98-per-year or $$12.95-per-month (which comes out to $155.40-per-year). Membership will be open to all Walmart customers on Sept 15, 2020 and a 15-day free trial will be available as well.

This service will be available in 4,700 stores. Over 50% of those locations will offer same-day delivery. Other features of Walmart+ include Walmart’s Scan & Go app, a mobile app that lets customers scan items as they shop and checkout using Walmart Pay rather than going to the register. Customers will also get up to 5 cents off a gallon at Walmart, Murphy USA and Murphy Express fuel stations.

That launch of Walmart+ was delayed significantly due to the COVID pandemic. For any customers currently enrolled in the Delivery Unlimited service, those customers will automatically become Walmart+ customers (since both services are priced the same).

While the Walmart+ yearly cost undercuts Amazon Prime’s $119 yearly cost, it’s extremely difficult to match the feature set that comes with Amazon Prime. Beyond quick shipping times, Amazon offers access to a multitude of additional perks like original content on Amazon Video, Amazon Fresh grocery delivery (in some areas), Prime Music streaming, one free Kindle book per month, free games on Twitch Prime, and many other perks.

Walmart launches Walmart+ delivery service, an Amazon Prime competitor