Walmart+ To Offer A Whopper Of A Deal

Members of Walmart+ will soon get discounted meals at Burger King, the latest in a string of new benefits as the membership program chases its far larger rival, Amazon Prime.

Walmart launched Walmart+ in 2020, 15 years after Prime’s introduction. Walmart promised members free shipping on purchases and later free access to the Paramount+ streaming service. A full-price membership now costs $98 a year, while Prime costs $139. Now Walmart is adding discounts at Burger King, a chain that is popular with Walmart+ members, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Walmart and other businesses with subscription models have struggled with retention in recent years amid stiff competition and higher prices for everyday necessities such as food. They face established services that have already entrenched themselves in consumers’ budgets, such as video streaming platform Netflix and e-commerce behemoth Amazon’s Prime membership, which has more than 200 million members.

Walmart+ membership plateaued early last year at around eight million people, including about a million Walmart workers who were offered a free membership as part of their employment, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

Membership stagnated at Walmart because some people didn’t pay to continue past their free trial period, but it has since grown steadily in recent quarters, according to people familiar with the matter. Over the past year, Walmart has worked to refocus its benefits and marketing to keep people from dropping out. Walmart+ membership income has grown by 10% or more in the last three quarters, executives have said on recent conference calls with analysts. 

Over the past year, Walmart has added a discounted membership for people who receive government assistance such as the food stamps program, as well as a student discount in the back-to-school season. It also added a travel benefit through Expedia and worked to promote the membership program in more places in stores and online.

Starting this week, Walmart+ members will get 25% off all digital orders at Burger King, and beginning in September, a free Whopper once every three months with a Burger King purchase. Amazon Prime earlier this year introduced free delivery of many restaurant meals through Grubhub.