Photo: Courtesy of Walmart | Amazon
May 31, 2024
Will Walmart+ Week’s Early Launch Outperform Amazon Prime Day in 2024?
Last year, Target and Walmart aimed to outshine Amazon during its Prime Day sales event, which took place on July 11 and 12, by hosting their competing sales events with significant discounts on popular products. Target Circle Week, which ran from July 9 to 15, featured up to 50% savings exclusive to Target Circle members. Walmart+ Week kicked off on July 10 and concluded on July 13, offering early access to exclusive deals for subscribers paying $98 annually. Both retailers leveraged their store networks and omnichannel capabilities to attract customers and provide enticing deals, challenging Amazon’s dominance in the online sales landscape.
This year, Walmart is stepping up its game in the members-only sales arena by launching its Walmart+ Week ahead of Amazon’s anticipated Prime Day event in July. This strategic move signals the beginning of the summer shopping season and marks another chapter in the ongoing battle of paid membership programs.
Walmart+ Week is set to run from June 17 to 23, extending beyond last year’s four-day summer sale that coincided with Prime Day. This year, Walmart is not just focusing on product deals but is also offering substantial discounts on gas, travel, and more. This comprehensive approach aims to enhance the value proposition for Walmart+ members.
One of the standout features of Walmart+ Week 2024 is the enhanced gas discount. Members will benefit from a doubled discount of 20 cents off per gallon at Exxon and Mobil stations nationwide. Additionally, Walmart+ members can earn up to 20% back in Walmart Cash on vacations booked through Walmart+ Travel. This incentive is likely to appeal to those planning summer trips, providing a significant boost to their travel budgets.
During the sale, members will also enjoy one free Express Delivery, waiving the usual $10 fee for orders delivered in under two hours. Adding a new element, Walmart will introduce its “first-ever mystery offer, set to be revealed on June 20.” This initiative, announced by Venessa Yates, Walmart+ general manager and senior vice president, is expected to attract additional interest and engagement from members.
Walmart+ offers a competitive membership cost of $98 annually or $12.95 monthly. Benefits include free same-day delivery for orders over $35, a gas discount, and access to Paramount+. Amazon Prime, on the other hand, is priced at $139 per year or $14.99 per month, offering free delivery, streaming services, music, and more. Amazon recently introduced a $9.99 grocery delivery subscription add-on for unlimited delivery orders over $35.
Meanwhile, other retailers like Target, Best Buy, and Kohl’s typically roll out their own sales to compete with Prime Day. Target also launched its new Target Circle 360 program on April 7, priced at $99 annually, or $49 for Target Circle Card holders.
Bloomberg Second Measure’s analysis of consumer transaction data reveals notable trends in the performance of Walmart’s and Amazon’s previous summer events, shedding light on the comparative sales growth experienced by each retail giant.
During the week of Amazon Prime Day 2023, Amazon witnessed a substantial uptick in U.S. consumer sales, with a notable week-over-week growth of 45%. Conversely, Walmart experienced a decline in U.S. consumer sales during Walmart+ Week, with a week-over-week decrease of 5%. However, it’s crucial to note that the week preceding Walmart’s sales event saw a remarkable surge in Walmart+ membership sales, marking a significant uptick of 43% compared to previous weeks in 2023.
Analyzing the broader sales trends throughout 2023, both Walmart and Amazon exhibited consistent patterns, with occasional fluctuations observed during specific periods. Noteworthy exceptions include the initial week of 2023, characterized by Amazon’s notable week-over-week sales growth compared to Walmart’s relatively stable performance. Additionally, the weeks surrounding the Easter holiday in late March and early April witnessed distinct shifts in sales dynamics, with Walmart experiencing increased week-over-week sales while Amazon’s U.S. consumer sales remained relatively unchanged.
The surge in Walmart+ membership sales leading up to Walmart+ Week last year can be attributed to several factors, including promotional pricing incentives and exclusive early access to the retailer’s sales event. Notably, the temporary reduction in the annual membership fee and the offer of advance access to the July sales event likely contributed to heightened consumer interest and increased membership enrollments.
Discussion Questions
How might Walmart+ Week’s early launch compared to Amazon Prime Day influence consumer loyalty and shopping behavior this summer?
What impact could Walmart’s substantial service discounts during Walmart+ Week have on the future competitive dynamics of membership-based retail programs?
Considering the sales trends during Walmart+ Week and Amazon Prime Day in 2023, what factors most significantly influence consumer spending during these events, and how can retailers use these insights to optimize their 2024 strategies?
Poll
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Mark Ryski
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Shep Hyken
Chief Amazement Officer, Shepard Presentations, LLC
Lisa Goller
B2B Content Strategist
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In an environment where consumers are a bit more constrained and are setting stricter spending budgets, Walmart is smart to launch its discount week ahead of Amazon’s Prime Day. That said, Prime Day remains immensely popular and due to high membership numbers and Amazon’s broad appeal across categories, it will remain one of the key spending and discounting occasions in the calendar. Walmart will probably also do some discounting over that period because a lot of retailers jump on the bandwagon during Amazon’s big day. What I would say is that Walmart’s ecommerce journey is impressive and it is firmly on the front foot.
Extend it to the stores. Then it won’t even be a contest
+1 to Paula’s suggestion. To fully capture share and drive customer loyalty, put everything in the store – especially higher ticket food items like meat – on sale. This not only ensures maximum traffic, but lowers price elasticity as customers spend more and add (many) more discretionary items to the carts as they wander the store.
Walmart+ Week’s early launch, ahead of Amazon Prime Day, aims to capture early summer shoppers, potentially boosting consumer loyalty by offering exclusive discounts on gas, travel, and more. This strategic move may shift consumer behavior, encouraging customers to shop at Walmart first and increasing Walmart+ memberships. The enhanced offerings by Walmart may pressure competitors like Amazon and Target to innovate and offer more value in their memberships, intensifying the competition for customer loyalty and market share.
Retailers can optimize 2024 strategies by launching early sales, enhancing membership benefits, employing data-driven marketing for personalized offers, introducing exclusive deals, and improving omni-channel integration to drive consumer spending and loyalty.
Walmart+ week’s early launch will not out-perform Amazon Prime Day for one good reason. It is not Amazon Prime.
Amazon Prime has its own traditional status in the ecommerce universe, and consumers will buy on that day regardless of competition. For one thing, almost every possible product and brand is reliably carried on Amazon, and this is simply not true when it comes to Walmart’s online retail business.
Both platforms heavily rely on third-party sellers, but Amazon has a more robust system in place compared to Walmart or any other e-commerce site. Furthermore, Amazon is significantly more consumer-friendly, offering fewer restrictions and contingencies when it comes to free shipping, direct shipments, pick-ups, and other services. Amazon’s consistent and reliable foundation remains unparalleled. Db
Walmart’s bold move to preempt Amazon Prime Day with Walmart+ Week is a game-changer. By launching early and offering exclusive discounts, Walmart is positioning itself as the true champion of retail savings. This strategy not only challenges Amazon’s dominance but also redefines consumer loyalty. Walmart’s aggressive approach signals a seismic shift in retail power dynamics. If Walmart can deliver on its promises, Amazon might find its crown slipping. It’s high time someone shook up the complacency of Prime Day, and Walmart is just the disruptor needed.
This is why competition is good for the consumer. Two GIANT retailers “duke it out” to attract more customers by lowering prices. Sure, it’s a competition for market share and wallet share, and in the end, both see an increase in sales. My take is this. Wamlart+ shouldn’t try catching up to compete with Prime. They should create different value props to get customers to take notice. The choice of who the customer wants to do business with should be based on why they are different. Neither retailer wants a transactional sale. They want ongoing sales with the same customers. In other words, they should find ways to extend the relationship beyond the great prices offered in a sale. The sale will get customers to buy today, but we want to find ways to bring them back tomorrow (when the sale is over).
All of these special days are great for consumers who are the ultimate winners in this competition. The downside, of course, is a certain class of shopper is being trained to wait for the next big sale to happen. From merchants with membership programs, of course you want the sales events to make your current membership stick with you, while others join. I am sure they “account” for the lost margins during these sales as a marketing expense, because that is much of the function here.
My first question is how many shoppers hold both Amazon Prime memberships and Walmart+ memberships. I could not find the answer, but I believe the overlap is small. Therefore, Amazon Prime is targeting 180 million U.S. shoppers while Walmart+ has about one third of that.
If never the two shall meet, it doesn’t matter much when their shopping days are scheduled.
Walmart is playing a much more aggressive promotional offence, and launching before Amazon’s Prime Day is a smart pre-emptive strike. Offering discounts on gasoline during the busy summer travel season is an especially good move, as this is one offer Amazon can’t match. Consumers remain in bargain hunt mode as inflation effects linger and all these promotional efforts by Walmart, Target and Amazon will be well received by consumers. The big question is whether these efforts are merely pulling demand forward, or truly stealing share. The answer is probably a little of both.
What stands out is how consumers and retailers win with these shopping festivals. Walmart, Amazon and Target all offer enticing price cuts and perks for loyal members.
Walmart has an edge in groceries, gas and travel. Target has exceptional private labels and a vibrant, customer-first store experience. Amazon is a top-of-mind brand that’s winning with loyal members and brand advertisers.
OK, so a big sale event gets launched earlier and is extended to be a longer event. Where have we seen this story unfold before? Black Friday may ring a bell. Or One Day Sales. Or…… I guess this is inevitable behavior on the part of the retailer. They either play offense or defense in the battle for market share. That doesn’t mean they are cultivating or building loyalty. I think quite the opposite. It’s simple bribery. Who’s got the best deal in the moment? Do I buy from Walmart or wait for Amazon? (Good question on overlap.) Black Friday now starts in late September or early October depending on the brand or retailer. Prime Day is about to become Prime Summer starting after Fathers Day. Customers may love it, but I’m not sure that love translates to loyalty. I think it translates to patience. Be patient…the next great deal will be announced soon.