Leveraging the deep engagement of streaming entertainment to make their core commerce platforms stickier, Amazon Prime and Walmart+ are taking different routes to the same destination: more subscribers spending more time and money within their ecosystems.
This, as Amazon announced Tuesday (Nov. 1) that Prime members would now have access to “100 million songs—up from 2 million—entirely ad-free” as well as top-rated podcasts and other series in a move that is appears aimed as much at Spotify and Apple Music as its retail rival.
At the same time, Walmart is touting a two-day sale on its Walmart+ membership ending on Thursday (Nov. 3) giving new subscribers half off the $98 annual membership fee, saying “new members can sign up for an annual Walmart+ membership for just $49, amounting to an epic six months free off its everyday price.”
Amazon’s move is positioned as a major value add for subscribers, saying, “Prime members can explore music and podcasts based on their likes; shuffle play any artist, album, or playlist in the catalog; and stream a collection of All-Access playlists tailored to personalized listening preferences on demand and available to download for offline listening.”
Making things more interesting was YouTube’s announcement Tuesday (Nov. 1) that it’s launching the new Primetime Channels service, long rumored and now offering “shows, movies and sports from streaming services such as SHOWTIME®, STARZ, Paramount+, AMC+, ViX+ and more” free with ads, and “NBA League Pass and more coming soon,” the company said.
See also: Amazon Adds New Content and Features for Prime Members
Streaming Into More Purchases
While shuffling through the dizzying number of new music and podcast playlists, those members will ideally click over to Amazon proper and buy something, while also feeling that their $139 annual membership fee is suddenly more valuable than before.
On the Walmart front, the company said, “This half-off boost will help even more people discover how Walmart+, and all of its perks,” adding that those perks include “early access to Black Friday deals, discounted gas to visit loved ones, the best seasonal movies streaming on Paramount+, all their favorite holiday music on Spotify and the ultimate entertaining convenience – unlimited grocery and gift deliveries from a local store right to members’ doors.”
With an estimated 11.5 million subscribers at present, Walmart+ faces a formidable game of catch-up to Amazon Prime’s roughly 166 million members. Sign-up discounts and value-adds are ways that major platforms are trying to retain and increase paid memberships at a time of widespread consumer belt-tightening, including a paring down of subscriptions.
“The Subscription Commerce Conversion Index: The Challenge Of Cheaters,” a PYMNTS and sticky.io collaboration, notes, “Sign-up discounts persist as a key call-to-action strategy for retail subscription providers, and their ubiquity and utility positively impact Index scores. Two-thirds of retail subscription providers offered discounts to new subscribers in July, with little change from May. The average discount ranged from 17% to 20%.”
Shedding light on these latest moves, the study added that consumers have cut back on subscriptions, saying, “The share of consumers not subscribed to any service in July rose by 19% from May. Streaming services bore the brunt of this belt-tightening, losing 10% of their subscriber base on average. Retail product subscription providers lost 5.3% in comparison.”
Get the study: The Subscription Commerce Conversion Index: The Challenge Of Cheaters
For all PYMNTS retail coverage, subscribe to the daily Retail Newsletter.
We’re always on the lookout for opportunities to partner with innovators and disruptors.
Learn More