Walmart+ Launches Sept 15, Offering Same-Day Delivery, Gas Discounts and Cashierless Checkout for $98/yr (techcrunch.com) 83
Walmart today officially unveiled its new membership service and Amazon Prime rival, which it's calling "Walmart+." The $98 per year service will combine free, unlimited same-day delivery on groceries and thousands of other items, with additional benefits, like fuel discounts and access to a new Scan & Go service, similar to Walmart-owned Sam's Club, that will allow members to check out at Walmart stores without having to wait in line. From a report: The service will be available starting on September 15, 2020 nationwide, reaching over 4,700 Walmart stores, including 2,700 stores that offer delivery. Members can choose to pay the $98 per year after a 15-day free-trial period, or they can pay $12.95 on a month-to-month basis. At launch, the new program promises more than 160,000 items for same-day delivery with no per-delivery fee on orders totaling $35 or more. This is the same value proposition that Walmart's existing "Delivery Unlimited" program offers today. With the launch of Walmart+, "Delivery Unlimited" members will be moved to the rebranded and expanded service.
Re: Huh? (Score:1)
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It is about competing with Amazon - a very tech company and up there with Google and Facebook in terms of bringing in a Dystopian future.
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Seems like better value than Amazon. Cheaper and presumably available on almost everything Walmart sells.
At least in the UK I've noticed that with Amazon Prime most of the stuff eligible for Prime is more expensive to start with. Assuming Walmart charge normal price it's not a bad deal.
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Walmart already has big box stores that people can buy those items at and have them the same day.
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You pay for convenience, not putting miles on your car, avoiding COVIDiots etc.
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"Can the average Walmart shopper even afford $98/yr to buy into this new system?"
I've not been in Wally-World in ages, that that was just to run in and buy stuff for an oil change and car wash stuff.
The typical person you see in Walmart, well....to say they don't look terribly affluent is being kind.
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If you go weekly to WalMart, that's $1.88/week - that is pretty much less than the gas it costs to go back and forth for most people.
That is assuming you can get everything they sell in store from their service (which I found out, you often can't).
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The typical person you see in Walmart, well....to say they don't look terribly affluent is being kind.
There is probably a large market of people who want Walmart prices but don't want to run into those kinds of people. Or be seen at a Walmart.
Plus, if there are no delivery fees for $98/year, that's less than $9/month to avoid grocery shopping altogether. I pay more than that for streaming services, nevermind internet/cellular/electric bills.
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Interesting point, about paying to not be seen in the store...that could be valid.
But then again, I have to think there are a TON of people that have Amazon Prime al
Re: Huh? (Score:1)
I learned this when an instacart shopper left a Costco receipt in my box and I compared what Costco charged instacart to what instacart charged me. I then decided to compare instacart's Whole Foods pricing to what Whole Foods actually charges in store. It was also closed to 40% markup.
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Interesting.
I'll have to look closer into that. I was going from prices in my head from last times I shopped in person at Costco and they didn't seem THAT much higher...to me seemed only a slight bit more, but not 40%!?!?
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I sound lazy but really spending 45 minutes to buy something for $2 is not a good bargain.
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I sound lazy but really spending 45 minutes to buy something for $2 is not a good bargain.
Even if you value your time at minimum wage, you're better off paying 2X-3X the price to avoid the wait.
I have a hard time believing any shop would let lines get that long, but I usually shop elsewhere.
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I have a hard time believing any shop would let lines get that long, but I usually shop elsewhere.
It is not the lines. It is the drive to the store. It takes me 20 minutes to go from my front door to Walmart. Ten minutes to pick out my items. Then 20 minutes to get back home. That is nearly an hour.
Checking out takes about a minute. There are almost never any lines at all at the self-checkout corral. Walmart has a better self-checkout system than any other store.
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Seems like better value than Amazon. Cheaper and presumably available on almost everything Walmart sells.
At least in the UK I've noticed that with Amazon Prime most of the stuff eligible for Prime is more expensive to start with. Assuming Walmart charge normal price it's not a bad deal.
More to the point, Walmart has a much better chance of being able to affordably offer same-day or even same-hour delivery, including on spoilable goods.
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Hopefully they improve their delivery and customer service since that is the reason I don't order from Walmart anymore.
The last time I ordered from Walmart, I ordered a dishwasher from the website since it offered free delivery and I wasn't feeling well enough for moderate lifting. Turns out that by "delivery" they meant they drop it in the mail. The postal worker was not equipped to pick up heavy things so it got left at the post office pickup point. Where I had to go pick it up. Warlmart support had n
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Re:Huh? (Score:4, Interesting)
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Re:Huh? (Score:5, Insightful)
And often one of the main reasons people can't get what they want locally is that companies like Amazon have pushed out the competition, which means that you may well have been forced to shop at Amazon, even if you don't realize it. Stores like Walmart also do the same thing at a local level: big stores run by large companies can offer cheaper prices, or even sell at a loss temporarily, until local businesses vanish leaving them the only offering in the area. Of course the people who shop their do so voluntarily, right up until realize that they now have no other option.
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No, businesses go out of business when they no longer offer what the customers want. If your company dies 'because Amazon', you were doing a poor job to begin with.
Having competition is never bad. Even WalMart wouldn't be able to run very long if they sold everything at a loss to out-compete the competition. Taking out competitors takes longer than their cash reserves and the grocery business isn't exactly high profit margin.
There are plenty of places where WalMarts haven't outcompeted more local businesses
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That's false. You're assuming an imaginary perfect market, which doesn't exist anywhere. Our markets in the US are distorted by all sorts of things, like tax breaks, externalities, etc.
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Taking out competitors takes longer than their cash reserves
Because the local mom'n'pop grocery store has a larger cash reserve than WalMart in your fantasy guruevi?
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Not every, but some, yes, it's not like suddenly nobody will shop in that store anymore and they'll be out of business in a week. What do you think the cash reserves are like for a brand new WalMart building? They don't operate as "Walmart Inc." but "Walmart of Yourtown Inc." for a reason and there are some very bad legal repercussions if they were able to funnel unlimited cash in a subsidiary (lookup piercing the corporate veil).
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" Bottom line, I can't get what I want locally, usually, and that's why I go to Amazon."
That's why I check them first, if they have it, I can stay in my underwear.
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And that's why we don't have stores any more.
I'm constantly surprised by people who are happy living in a society without stores. It seems depressing as hell to me.
Re: Huh? (Score:1)
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One single mega-corp where some people buy everything they physically need to live, and where they spend all of their entertainment money isn't dystopian to you? Really? If it wasn't so tired, I'm sure I could list a half dozen movies with an "Omni-MegaCorp" that describes this situation.
No, dystopian is where you have one entity controlling everything and it won't let you buy things you need.
Re: Huh? (Score:1)
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One single mega-corp where some people buy everything they physically need to live, and where they spend all of their entertainment money isn't dystopian to you?
As long as I actually get what I need and want, at reasonable prices, then no, it is not dystopian.
But what you describe isn't real anyway. There is more than one mega-corp. If Amazon doesn't give me the selection and price I want, Walmart.com is just a click away. So is Target, eBay, etc.
I'm sure I could list a half dozen movies with an "Omni-MegaCorp" that describes this situation.
If you have to reference works of fiction to make your point, then perhaps you don't have one.
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I don't need fiction. Just look outside of your house at all of the empty storefronts. It's like that all across the US. If that's not depressing to you, then... congrats?
Re: Huh? (Score:1)
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Walmart's no technical slouch either. They have just as much stake in bringing a Dystopian future, too. It's just that they're concentrating on the brick and mortar sales and surveillance while they're ramping up their digital venue.
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Every Walmart store has facial recognition, movement analysis, behavioral AI, and other technologies to predict consumer behavior. They also build dossiers on social connections (for example if you enter the store with someone, they build that connection matrix).
It's amazing what they can infer about you from watching your every move in the store.
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Slashdot has finally gone full circle and is editorial inserted among mostly ads, instead of the other way around.
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Amazon is tech company. Amazon offers similar service. Wal-mart is introducing competing service. Ergo, news for nerds.
Or in simpler terms: nerds shop too.
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I'm not usually one to complain about things not being "news for nerds, stuff that matters", but how the FUCK does this qualify?
I usually am one to complain, but honestly shopping is one of my least favorite things to do.
Anything that eliminates the need for me to wander around a store dodging other shoppers and then waiting to check out is fine by me.
news for nerds (Score:2)
Good news, nerds
You won't have to go outside or interact with human staff to get Walmart's low prices!
Dumpster food sux (Score:1)
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From the beef I've seen at WM, I think the old lines from Caddyshack sums it up well..."
"And tell the cook this is low grade dogfood. I've had better food at the ballgame, you know? I tell you, this steak still has marks where the jockey was hitting it."
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If you are talking packaged goods with their "Great Value" yes that stuff is probably the same product off the same line as stuff with Kroger or a Food Lion label on it.
All things considered (other discounts, rewards programs, etc) Walmart probably does manage to sell it a few pennies cheaper and with less BS to jump thru like having a frequent shopper card to do it.
When it comes to anything fresh, meat, produce, it depends a lot on where you live. I very rarely buy the stuff at my local Walmart because its
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Do they do that with fruit too? Because its always looking sad unless you show up on the right day. Usually the meat and stuff in the cooler cases is dated and again you show up on truck day or whatever its new, show up any other day and its picked over and 2 days old or on its third day looking grey and sad..
I bet a lot gets tossed. Might depend on how busy your walmart is. What is true is they never discount it. I mean I have not actually asked, but I never see stuff marked down.
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What is true is they never discount [fruit]. I mean I have not actually asked, but I never see stuff marked down.
The Walmart store near me (#1804 Apple Glen in Fort Wayne, Indiana) occasionally has produce on "Manager's Special". I've seen corn and mango like that. Bakery overstock, particularly donuts, gets discounted and put on an "Oops, we made too much" cart elsewhere in the store.
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This may be regional, but I've found that for food, Walmart brands are often superior to name brands or house brands at other stores. The fresh produce, however, while of equivalent quality, is generally more expensive than one can get elsewhere, with the exception of a few particular items, such as avocadoes.
As for the new walmart prime service, meh. I don't need to pay for TWO such services, and Amazon offers other benefits as well, such as infinite photo storage.
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Ugh...I disagree.
The very few times I"ve gone into a Walmart, and seen the food...well, let's say, I've never ever seen beef there that I"d feed to my dog.
And their produce was shoddy and usually not very well stocked...and this was well before Covid.
I figured you get what you pay for a Wallyworld....and well, unless it was something canned or in a jar, I"d not bother with it there, and I tr
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That and unlike the self-serve checkout scanners where they let you do their employees jobs for them for free, now you're paying Walmart for the "privilege". The best way to stop this kind of thing from taking people's jobs is not to use it.
$98/year for no cashier? (Score:2)
Meijer already offers cashier-less check-out with their mobile app and it does not require a fee at all. Why in the world would Walmart paywall this?
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I asked why the one feature was pay walled. I know there were other things bundled.
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I'm not super familiar with Meijer, or their app, but do you have to go through the checkout (even if it's cashier-less) then use your app to pay? Because Walmart already does that. The new thing sounds more like you pick up an item off the shelf, scan it with your phone, pay for it, and walk out the door.
Yes, you still go through a cashier-less register, but no one is checking your cart, you don't have to unload, no involvement with door greeter. So the level of trust is the same. Essentially with Walmart you pay money to bypass a line, but I presume you will have to let the door greeter check your receipt and check your cart? This is what occurs at Sam's Club with their (free) scan and go.
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The only reason I can think of is the legal angle.
You know how some retailers ask to see your receipt as you head out the door? Most retailers have no authority to do anything if you choose to keep walking right by that employee. You bought your goods, they belong to you, and you can choose to do what you want with them as soon as the transaction completes. You're under no obligation to prove ownership, display them to store employees, or allow yourself to be detained in any way.
Not so at Sam's Club, howeve
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Meijer already offers cashier-less check-out with their mobile app and it does not require a fee at all. Why in the world would Walmart paywall this?
Because the first time Walmart tried the scan and go feature, there was a lot of stealing. That was one of the biggest reasons why they discontinued it. They figure if they paywall it, it would cut out some of the shoplifting. At least that is what I was told by someone in Walmart management.
Amazon needs competition (Score:3)
But, given my experiences with Walmart, I don’t trust them to not royally f*ck this up.
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1 - Renaming cashier's to "hosts"
2 - "Hosts" meet consumer at entrance to self-checkout and either direct them to an open one so they can self checkout, or the "host" will do the actual checkout process for them.
3 - Also, there are employees that can scan your items while you are out in the aisles
I was assuming the "cashierless" meant it was a competing system to Amazon Go and I was surprised Walmart was able
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I see Wal-Mart as a junk store for poor people. I would never shop at a Wal-Mart.
I see you as a moron that makes decisions based on social media stories.
Life isn't actually a popularity contest. Start thinking for yourself.
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Am I right?
Re: White trash membership card (Score:2)
2016 was a big F.U. to the libs.
In my day we called it cutting off your own nose to spite your face. Same idea, hugely effective at getting people to walk the other way whenever they encounter you. That's considered winning in this era.
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And lemme guess, you're still confused about why Trump won in 2016?
Am I right?
I'm confused. What confuses me about the Trump voter + Wal-Mart shopper is this: how can you bitch about how China "took er jobs!" and then shop at the place that helped more than any other ship manufacturing to China? It doesn't make sense to whine about China taking our manufacturing and then shopping at a place that specializes in Chinese junk. You only get one presidential vote but you get thousands of votes with your wallet.
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Just for $98/yr you can have your white trash membership officially recognized. Limited time offer, sign up now and get your camo pants and a pre-stained wife beater sleeveless shirt at 50% discount.
I was going to say that it allows you to be closet trash. Be a cheap ass Wal-Mart shopper without the shame of being seen there.
But... (Score:2)
My BEV does not use gasoline.
So, what is the point of this?
Most customers' cars aren't BEVs (Score:2)
The vast majority of vehicles in the parking lot of a Walmart store are not battery electric vehicles (BEVs). At most they might be hybrids. In any case, how much does your local electric power company charge you to charge your BEV enough to make it to and from the closest Walmart?
Re: But... (Score:4, Funny)
My truck runs on smallers cars.
Double-Dipping (Score:2)
How can we hire fewer workers but also charge customers to check out items on their own? They're now PAYING Walmart to perform check-out labor.
Fuck the Waltons. Seriously, fuck the whole damned family.
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On the side of this: it's more expensive to be poor.
for all the negativity (Score:1)
He is legally blind and does not own a car, had 7 stents, 5 major strokes, and a multitude of mini-strokes.
[ to see what he does hold a toilet paper roll up the each eye.]
The only thing you can not get is frozen stuff, which he does not really use and will wait until I come down.
If current service is any clue (Score:2)
I tried Walmart's online ordering, hoping to pick up an order the next day in the store. It took the store no less than 48 hours to fill the order. There was nothing quick or convenient about it. Employees seemed annoyed to have to deal with filling orders and making them available for customer pickup. I don't trust Walmart and I'm sure not going to pay them for this kind of service.
Dollars (Score:2)