Will Walmart+ Members Show Up for Amazon Prime Day?

Walmart and Amazon command colossal subscriber bases that turn their annual flagship sales events into some of the most anticipated shopping affairs of the year. Walmart+ Weekend and Prime Day appear to offer similar appeal to consumers, but PYMNTS’ data has uncovered very different purchasing patterns and demographic trends.

Groceries were the biggest draw in June’s Walmart+ Weekend. Fifty-seven percent of the program’s members who participated in the sales event stocked up on groceries, while just 24% of Prime subscribers did so on last year’s Prime Day. This split reflects what the members of each program say are key reasons they chose to subscribe: 43% of Walmart+ members cited same-day grocery delivery as a motivator, while just 13% of Prime subscribers said the same.

For “Walmart+ Weekend: Prime Rival Or Trip To The Grocery Store?,” PYMNTS surveyed 2,894 members of Walmart+ and Amazon Prime about their reasons for joining these programs, their perceptions of the respective sales events and their purchasing decisions during the sales.

Additional findings include:

• For many members, Walmart+ Weekend was a big trip to the grocery store.

Data shows that 57% of members who showed up for the sale purchased groceries, while just 24% of Prime members did so on Prime Day.

• Cash-strapped shoppers say Walmart+ Weekend offered better deals.

Among members of both programs who live paycheck-to-paycheck with issues paying bills, 49% stated that Walmart+ Weekend had the better deals. Just 29% of this group thought Prime Day was superior.

• Millennial consumers flocked to Prime Day.

More millennials said Prime Day offered better deals than Walmart+ Weekend, at 38% versus 26%, respectively.

These findings offer just a brief look at the differences in purchasing preferences among consumers who participated in Walmart+ Weekend and Prime Day. The “Walmart+ Weekend: Prime Day Rival Or Trip To The Grocery Store?” report outlines what purchase categories consumers favored during these sales events and which program customers perceived to deliver better deals.

To learn more about how Walmart+ wins with consumers — and the respects in which it must still catch up to Amazon Prime — download the report.