Consumers Weigh Price, Service, Convenience When Shopping for Subscriptions, Report Shows

If you have any question about Amazon’s retail market dominance, even when it’s matched up against the so-called Big Boys in the space, here’s a number that might stagger you: There are almost 166 million Amazon Prime members, compared to about 11.5 million Walmart+ members.

Maybe it’s because people who typically prefer to shop on Amazon are different than the people who typically prefer to shop online at Walmart.com, at least in what they’re looking to get out of their retail experiences. Otherwise, it’s hard to figure out why there’s such a disparity between the numbers.

Walmart+ costs $12.95 a month or $98 a year, compared to $14.99 a month and $139 a year for an Amazon Prime membership. Walmart’s subscription service also offers free shipping, free deliveries on orders of at least $35 and members-only discounts on gas.

Amazon Prime features free delivery in one or two days and free same-day delivery for orders of at least $25, as well as streaming and digital perks including Prime Video, Amazon Music, Prime Gaming and access to its Prime Reading service.

Of course, there are plenty of other subscription services out there, including Costco and Sam’s Club. A standard Costco membership is $60 a year; an executive membership will set you back $120.

Standard memberships include shopping access at all Costco warehouses, access to discounted gasoline and free two-day delivery on nonperishable and household items orders totaling $75 or more, among other features.

Sam’s Club offers Club memberships for $45 a year and Plus memberships for $100.

PYMNTS’ new report, “The Benefits Of Membership: Mass Retailers And Subscription Services,” looks at these membership offerings and many more to help you decide which one fits your lifestyle best — and why the answer may continue to change.

“Consumers typically have their own reasons for shopping with a specific merchant,” the report said.

Access to better prices is the most important consideration for 25% of the 2,129 U.S. consumers PYMNTS surveyed, while 21% said their ideal situation involves picking a store that’s close to them.

“These varied preferences indicate that differing types of subscriptions are likely to appeal to consumers with select priorities,” PYMNTS said. “Mass retailers that take note of their core consumers’ preferences and tailor their subscription offerings with them in mind are more likely to grow their membership bases.”

The study examined the popularity of these services, how membership affected the way consumers shop and the benefits of each shopping subscription.

PYMNTS asked about subscription-based shopping trends, the retailers with which shoppers spent the most amount of money and the motivations they have for obtaining and using different memberships.

More key findings from the study include:

• The total value of purchases made by subscribers is double that for nonsubscribers in all cases, except for Walmart+ members, who spent just 15% more than non-members each month when shopping online, and also spent 10% less than non-members when shopping in-store.
• 98% of Amazon Prime shoppers conduct their transactions online. Both Sam’s Club and Costco shoppers, on the other hand, are far more likely to shop in-store. Eighty-four percent of Sam’s Club customers shop in-store, and 88% of Costco customers said the same. Walmart has observed similar trends, with 85% of its shoppers making their purchases in-store.