Dive Brief:

• Wal-Mart has opened a new, 1.2 million-square-foot e-commerce fulfillment center in Bethlehem, PA, to expand its delivery capabilities. 
• The retailer plans to open at three more centers by year’s end with the goal of being able to deliver online orders to 95% of the U.S. population in two days or less.
• Wal-Mart also launched a product similar to Amazon Prime last month, ShippingPass, offering free three-day shipping on many items for an annual membership fee of $50. 

Dive Insight:

Wal-Mart is going head-to-head with Amazon in e-commerce, a category that it has been behind in for a while now. After staging a mid-month promotion to counter Amazon's 20th anniversary Prime Day promo, Wal-Mart has opened a massive fulfillment center in Pennsylvania, and three more are on the way.

Its goal? Getting orders to 95% of U.S. buyers in an Amazon-esque two days or less. Walmart.com is already testing a subscription ShippingPass that offers free three-day shipping for $50 per year, similar to Amazon Prime’s two-day shipping and $99 membership fee.

Featuring state-of-the-art systems, the 1.2 million-square-foot center in Bethlehem will employ 400 people. The company noted that the center is just one part of its strategy, with 80 Wal-Mart stores now shipping online directly to customers, and 4,500 stores nationwide offering in-store pickup of online orders.