This is a smart move that locks in loyalty from consumers. Ocado did something similar in the U.K. years ago and they found that customers on the subscription scheme spent more and were less likely to defect to other retailers. The slight downside is that the cost of the scheme does not always cover the cost of delivery for high intensity users, although this is partly balanced by greater profitability from low intensity users. There is also the problem of ensuring that enough delivery slots are available for these subscription users at peak times like Thanksgiving or Christmas; this was a major source of frustration with Ocado subscribers.

Build it and they will come; make it easy and they will keep coming. Walmart’s stores offer an advantage for fresh delivery (a key reason Amazon bought Whole Foods) and with their larger customer base, rolling out this service will be a boon to their business and take away from others. Convenience is the name of the game going forward — the question will be at what price for customers (and if the cost works for Walmart, given the “unlimited” aspect).

Very smart move. Capture the customer based on perishables and they tack on their non-perishable purchases to boot. This is not just an Amazon strategy. Any other local grocery store better take notice also.

I think this will be a definite plus for their grocery business but the price may be steep for the Walmart shopper. With 90 percent of the U.S. population living within a 10 mile radius of a Walmart location they have the opportunity to grab a big chunk of market share. They will need to increase their organic and healthy selections to compete as Whole Foods and regional juggernauts like Publix aren’t standing still. I believe if they upgraded their selection and offered lower and or one-time options they could take a big portion of what will be a huge market.

Consumers have already shown that they are up for this kind of subscription service – Amazon Prime trained us to pay a fee for its free shipping and other services years ago. And it just makes sense if you are a frequent user of Walmart’s grocery delivery services. This is a no-brainer. If you deliver groceries this should be part of your service offerings.

Kudos to Walmart for their latest attempt to catch up to Amazon and potentially leapfrog over Target. However, with the exception of its scale of coverage, it adds little in way of a real point of differentiation. Perhaps fresh will make a difference. It will be interesting to follow its customers in terms of using this new service versus BOPIS, which appears to have some traction with its customer base.

I concur with the other panelist who applaud this move. While Walmart has been very aggressive with its BOPIS operations, they have been lagging behind in home delivery. This news changes that and is a significant step forward, as it also provides an additional advantage to Walmart over Amazon in the grocery delivery business given that Walmart is much more mainstream with its grocery offerings and pricing than the combination of Amazon and Whole Foods. I remain convinced, however, that Amazon will continue to dominate Walmart in most other online categories beyond grocery. Perhaps this dichotomy of each having a dominant niche will be the basis for a strong retailing duopoly for years to come.

Welcome to the great world of subscription revenues, Walmart! Amazon does it to create a profitable bottom line. So does Costco, Sam’s Club (part of Walmart), and many others. Applying this to the grocery channel, where delivery has even more of presence, is just a no-brainer. Increased profits, more on-time deliveries, and happier customers. This empowers the store to conduct better forecasting, minimize out-of-stocks, and create an entirely new audience. What is there not to like?

Preemptive strike. Nice. You have to give it to Walmart, they’re starting to actually beat Amazon (and traditional grocers) to the punch. And in this case, they’ve got the upper hand in that they’ve got the logistics, the physical presence and the raw wherewithal to make it all happen, even if it takes time to become highly profitable (and it will). The game here is market share, first to market, so to me it is a BIG win.

It’s great to finally see a full resurgence of the physical store. We’ve specifically been putting stores around people that buy things for the better part of 100 years. Why not use them most effectively? Store design will continue to evolve, but for Walmart to roll this out so broadly they must have seen performance that really resonated. I don’t know if it’s going to draw customers from competitors, but it does open up the opportunity to their entire customer base so more people (perhaps not formally doing much ordering online) will take part.

This is the way the world is moving. I would imagine that right now they are trying to compete day to day with regional supermarkets and Amazon. However once automation takes hold no matter if that means drones or autonomous delivery cars, Walmart’s low prices and fast service will be able to give Amazon a run for their money…