02/09/2017
Walmart Nixes ShippingPass For Free Two-Day Shipping
Walmart is shutting down its ShippingPass program, a $49-per-year two-day shipping service similar to Amazon Prime. Instead, the retailer is offering free two-day shipping without a membership fee on as many as two million items, lowering the minimum purchase required for free shipping to $35 from $50. All current ShippingPass members will receive a refund on their membership.
"In today's world of e-commerce, two-day free shipping is table stakes," Marc Lore, President and CEO, Walmart U.S. eCommerce wrote on the retailer's blog. "It no longer makes sense to charge for it."
While the two million items that qualify for two-day shipping "make up the vast majority of what customers buy online," according to Lore, Amazon's marketplace offers at least 30 million products available through Amazon prime in comparison.
Lore remains positive about customer-centric changes the retail is working towards, writing "I’ve been here for four months and I couldn’t be more excited about how fast we are moving. It feels like a startup. We’ve rolled out a new leadership team and organizational structure that’s highly customer centric. We’ve got everybody working on new ways to serve our customers."
"In today's world of e-commerce, two-day free shipping is table stakes," Marc Lore, President and CEO, Walmart U.S. eCommerce wrote on the retailer's blog. "It no longer makes sense to charge for it."
While the two million items that qualify for two-day shipping "make up the vast majority of what customers buy online," according to Lore, Amazon's marketplace offers at least 30 million products available through Amazon prime in comparison.
Lore remains positive about customer-centric changes the retail is working towards, writing "I’ve been here for four months and I couldn’t be more excited about how fast we are moving. It feels like a startup. We’ve rolled out a new leadership team and organizational structure that’s highly customer centric. We’ve got everybody working on new ways to serve our customers."