Wal-Mart has opened free two-day shipping to all customers, dropping a paid membership program.
As of Tuesday morning, the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer began shipping eligible orders of $35 or more to customers' homes in two days or less. More than 2 million items are available for the free expedited shipping, including baby items, some food items, pet products, cleaning supplies and top toys and electronics, Wal-Mart said in a news release.
Wal-Mart previously reserved free two-day shipping for customers who paid for its ShippingPass membership, which did not have a minimum order value. At $49 per year, ShippingPass was about half the price of Amazon's popular Prime membership _ which also provides free two-day shipping _ but didn't offer other services Amazon included for subscribers, such as a range of movies, TV shows and music available to stream online for free.
"In this day and age, two-day shipping is table stakes. We don't think it's necessary to charge for a membership," Marc Lore, Wal-Mart's president and CEO of U.S. e-commerce, said Monday.
Lore, who joined Wal-Mart in September after the retailer bought his company, Jet.com, said the move wasn't a sign that ShippingPass wasn't working, but a decision to "up the ante."
Wal-Mart declined to say how many members ShippingPass attracted. The retailer will issue refunds to customers who bought memberships.
Wal-Mart used to require customers who weren't ShippingPass members to spend at least $50 to get free shipping with delivery in five to eight business days. As part of the new, free shipping offer, customers can have eligible items shipped to stores in two days with no minimum purchase requirement.
