Desperate times, desperate measures: As a result, the company’s tactics to grow its membership base have gotten increasingly unfocused.
- Walmart has held talks with Disney, Comcast, and Paramount about bundling their streaming content into Walmart+, The New York Times reported.
- Walmart is pushing employees to sign up for free memberships, with one associate saying that non-enrollment was a “fireable offense,” per Insider.
- The retailer is giving Affirm users who spend $300 or more with the company a free 90-day trial, per Chain Store Age.
- Meanwhile, Walmart has an ongoing deal with American Express to offer free memberships for Platinum cardholders as part of its push to attract wealthier shoppers.
The big takeaway: Walmart’s profits have taken a hit thanks to shoppers trading down and spending more of their budgets on groceries. That’s caused the retailer to lean harder on its membership offering to drive revenues—but adding a streaming service won’t be the game changer Walmart hopes it’ll be.
Instead of trying to copy everything Amazon does, Walmart needs to focus on how best to provide value to its existing customers, and fully maximize its existing advantages, such as its extensive store footprint and ability to use its market share to negotiate lower prices with suppliers.
This article originally appeared in Insider Intelligence's Retail & Ecommerce Briefing—a daily recap of top stories reshaping the retail industry. Subscribe to have more hard-hitting takeaways delivered to your inbox daily.