Amazon, Walmart and Target all have paid memberships: what are the perks?
Target's paid membership, Target Circle 360, will go live April 7
Target on Tuesday unveiled a paid membership program, Target Circle 360, that will go live in early April.
Once the program makes its April 7 debut, consumers will have their pick of a wider range of paid membership options with their own unique benefits made available to them by major retailers. Some other retail giants that have paid memberships include Amazon and Walmart.
FOX Business takes a closer look at some of the different benefits that come with Amazon Prime, Walmart+ and Target Circle 360 memberships.
Amazon Prime
Of the three programs, Amazon Prime has been around the longest.
Prime members get access to free same-day, one-day and two-day "on millions of items" listed on the e-commerce giant’s website, a benefit that the program is well-known for.
Some of its big shopping-related perks include Prime Day deals and discounts on certain Whole Foods items.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
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AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 210.71 | +2.82 | +1.36% |
Prime Video also comes with a membership. The streaming platform, which defaults to showing users ads unless they pay extra, houses popular TV shows like "The Boys," "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and "The Summer I Turned Pretty" and movies like "Air."
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Users can "stream tunes and podcasts to [their] phone, Echo, or other smart device" with Amazon Music through membership, Amazon has said.
Amazon.com Inc
Bookworms with Prime have the ability to enjoy "a rotating selection" of eBooks, magazines, comics and audiobooks too.
The e-commerce giant has the price of its Prime membership set at $14.99 per month or $139 per year. There are also benefits like RxPass and One Medical that Prime members can pay additional fees to get.
Walmart+
Similar to Amazon Prime, Walmart+ has its own set of shipping and delivery-related benefits.
Customers can get eligible items they ordered sent to them with free next-day, two-day or standard shipping if they have Walmart’s paid membership.
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WMT | WALMART INC. | 92.50 | +0.62 | +0.67% |
Deliveries of groceries and other items from their local Walmart store is another option for Walmart+ members. They must meet a $35 order minimum to get it free, according to Walmart’s website.
While shopping in store, Walmart+ members also have access to a "Scan & Go" feature on their mobile app that lets them scan what they’re shopping for as they go and use a QR code to pay quickly at self-checkout.
The membership brings gas discounts too. With Walmart+, members get gallons of fuel at certain gas stations for 10 cents cheaper, according to Walmart’s website. At Walmart-owned Sam’s Club stations, it affords them "member prices."
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Walmart also has a deal with Paramount that lets the retailer offer the ad-supported tier of the Paramount+ streaming service complimentary to Walmart+ members. As a standalone service, Paramount+ subscribers have to pay $5.99 a month for that same tier, which does not include Showtime content.
Walmart
For all its benefits, Walmart+ comes with a $12.95 per month or $98 per year price tag.
Target Circle 360
When Target revealed its upcoming Target Circle 360 service, it highlighted its "free same-day delivery from Target’s same-day delivery service, Shipt, and its more than 100 retail partners." Those orders, which must total at least $35 to be free, are supposed to come as quickly as 60 minutes from purchase.
Target Circle 360 members will also be able to make use of free two-day shipping for "hundreds of thousands of items" under the perk, the company said.
TARGET LAUNCHES NEW PAID MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM
Another benefit of the soon-to-launch paid membership is the retailer will let customers take an extra 30 days to decide whether they want to return a piece of merchandise.
Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
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TGT | TARGET CORP. | 130.11 | +3.57 | +2.82% |
Target Circle 360 members will have the option to take advantage of the company’s loyalty program, Target Circle, and all that comes with that. Automatic deals, "just-for-you bonuses" and access to free trials from partner brands are among the loyalty program’s features.
CEO Brian Cornell reported earlier this week that over 100 million people belong to Target Circle, which will also see some changes in April.
Target
Individuals with Target Circle Cards will have the ability to subscribe to Target Circle 360 for $49 a year, Target said. That same price will be available to non-card holding Target customers who sign up from April 7 to May 18, but it only applies to their first year of membership.
Otherwise, the paid membership will have a yearly $99 fee.
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Daniella Genovese contributed to this report.