Amazon and Walmart are competing for holiday memberships

For Amazon and Walmart, the two major e-commerce giants in the United States, the holiday season every year is the most intense period of the battle for GMV (gross merchandise volume), and the number of members is one of the most important competitive factors for both sides. The more members means greater user stickiness and higher sales.

Currently, Amazon Prime has about 168 million members in the United States, while Walmart+ has about 11 million. This year, Amazon and Walmart are launching various benefits to attract more members during the holiday season. Their ultimate goal is to get more users to spend more time and money on their platforms.

On November 1, Amazon announced that its Prime members would now have access to “100 million songs” in an ad-free model, as well as exclusive podcasts and other series, up from just 2 million previously, in a move aimed at Spotify and Apple Music as well as its retail rivals.

Additionally, its Music app has been updated to include a new player version feature that plays a short picture of the episode to help customers choose from the shows they are browsing. Amazon's move is aimed at providing value-added services to Prime users.

At the same time, Walmart has also added holiday benefits for its Walmart+ members. Recently, Walmart announced a half-price discount for Walmart+ members. New users only need to spend $49 to sign up for a Walmart+ annual membership, which is half the usual price of $98.

Walmart is also offering exclusive Black Friday deals to Walmart+ members early. Walmart+ members will get “early access” to Black Friday deals at noon on Monday, November 7, and Walmart will also offer two additional early Black Friday shopping days for all customers on November 14 and 21.

In addition, Walmart is launching its Walmart+ membership rewards program, which allows members to accumulate extra points for future Walmart purchases and redeem them at checkout online and in-store, a move that could be effective in attracting new members, said Jharonne Martis, director of consumer research at Refinitiv.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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