Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Walmart launches free two-day shipping on more than two million items

By Brad Jones Published January 31, 2017

Walmart has announced a change to its shipping rates in order to better compete with the Prime service offered by its rival, Amazon. The company will discontinue its subscription-based ShippingPass in favor of free two-day shipping, with a couple of caveats.

Free two-day shipping will be available for more than two million items, according to a report from The Verge. The list of eligible products includes staples like baby necessities, pet food, cleaning supplies, and more.

Recommended Videos

However, there’s a catch — there’s a $35 minimum spending requirement in order for a purchase to qualify for free shipping. Customers can also opt for same-day pickup of non-grocery items at one of 4,600 stores around the country, which is also free, and doesn’t carry any kind of minimum spending requirement.

ShippingPass was introduced almost two years ago, and offered Walmart customers free two-day shipping in exchange for an annual membership fee of $49. The president and CEO of Walmart U.S. ecommerce described free two-day shipping as “table stakes” in a press release published by the company, adding that “it no longer makes sense to charge for it.”

It’s clear that ShippingPass couldn’t offer a similar value to Amazon Prime, which is much more expensive at $99 per year, but includes added benefits like a streaming video library and one-day shipping when possible. Free two-day shipping as standard sounds good on paper, but the selection of products that are eligible will be crucial.

The shift from a subscription service to free shipping is a big change for Walmart’s online storefront, and it seems that further adjustments are set to be implemented over the next few months. Lore stated that this tweak is “the first of many moves we will be making to enhance the customer experience and accelerate growth.”

See more at Walmart

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Brad is an English-born writer currently splitting his time between Edinburgh and Pennsylvania. You can find him on Twitter…

Computing

How to change margins in Google Docs

Laptop Working from Home

When you create a document in Google Docs, you may need to adjust the space between the edge of the page and the content -- the margins. For instance, many professors have requirements for the margin sizes you must use for college papers.

You can easily change the left, right, top, and bottom margins in Google Docs and have a few different ways to do it.

Computing

What is Microsoft Teams? How to use the collaboration app

A close-up of someone using Microsoft Teams on a laptop for a videoconference.

Online team collaboration is the new norm as companies spread their workforce across the globe. Gone are the days of primarily relying on group emails, as teams can now work together in real time using an instant chat-style interface, no matter where they are.

Using Microsoft Teams affords video conferencing, real-time discussions, document sharing and editing, and more for companies and corporations. It's one of many collaboration tools designed to bring company workers together in an online space. It’s not designed for communicating with family and friends, but for colleagues and clients.

Computing

Microsoft Word vs. Google Docs

A person using a laptop that displays various Microsoft Office apps.

For the last few decades, Microsoft Word has been the de facto standard for word processors across the working world. That's finally starting to shift, and it looks like one of Google's productivity apps is the heir apparent. The company's Google Docs solution (or to be specific, the integrated word processor) is cross-platform and interoperable, automatically syncs, is easily shareable, and perhaps best of all, is free.

However, using Google Docs proves it still has a long way to go before it can match all of Word's features -- Microsoft has been developing its word processor for over 30 years, after all, and millions still use Microsoft Word. Will Google Docs' low barrier to entry and cross-platform functionality win out? Let's break down each word processor in terms of features and capabilities to help you determine which is best for your needs.
How does each word processing program compare?
To put it lightly, Microsoft Word has an incredible advantage over Google Docs in terms of raw technical capability. From relatively humble beginnings in the 1980s, Microsoft has added new tools and options in each successive version. Most of the essential editing tools are available in Google Docs, but users who are used to Word will find it limited.