Walmart has slashed the price of its Walmart+ membership in half ahead of a holiday push for what will be the shortest shopping season in years. The $98 annual fee is $49 now through Dec. 2; shoppers can also opt for a shorter free trial instead.
At the same time, the retail giant this week also unveiled a host of deals on a wide assortment of products, including toys, tech, electronics, kitchen appliances, home, fashion and décor. Specials will be featured during three sales events, on Nov. 11, Nov. 25 and Dec. 1. This year, Black Friday falls on Nov. 29 and Cyber Monday is Dec. 2.
In addition the usual benefits, including free delivery on millions of items, discounts on dining, fuel and travel, and free video streaming, Walmart+ membership gains members early access to holiday specials. On the November sale days, they can start shopping at noon Eastern Time while non-members must wait until 5 p.m., for example, and for the sale on the Sunday before Cyber Monday, they see deals starting at 5 p.m., three hours ahead of non-members.
Otherwise, Walmart is also dropping deals during the sales events online and via its app, according to a corporate blog post. Bain & Co. found that three-quarters of consumers will make at least half their holiday purchases online and more than half will start working through their shopping lists in November.
The retailer joins Amazon in highlighting its consumer-facing AI capabilities. The e-commerce giant recently unveiled visual search features after previously rolling out its generative AI shopping tool, Rufus, in the U.S. Walmart this week said it has expanded the beta test of its own gen AI-powered shopping assistant. The retailer is also touting gen AI search, personalized holiday content and an “AI-powered Customer Support Assistant that goes beyond just understanding the customer’s intent to taking actions, like finding orders and managing returns, making the shopping experience seamless from start to finish.”
With the fewest days between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day since 2019, this year retailers and consumers will have to fit the busiest shopping season of the year into just four weeks. Some observers expect a blitz of holiday advertising to hit the airwaves and social media once the political advertising frenzy subsides following the presidential election next week. On Walmart’s e-commerce website, that includes new episodes and behind-the-scenes content related to its holiday ‘advertainment’ series, featuring television and movie stars.
