Walmart (NYSE: WMT), America’s leading retailer, has reached an agreement with Paramount Global (NASDAQ: PARA) to offer its video streaming service, Paramount+, as a perk of Walmart+, the retailer’s membership program.
This deal, which was announced on Monday, brings Walmart closer to its favorite competitor, e-commerce giant Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), which offers its own video streaming service, Amazon Prime Video, as part of the company’s Prime subscription.
Walmart+ members will get free access to the ad-supported “essential tier” of Paramount+ beginning September. The stand-alone subscription of this tier typically costs $4.99 per month, while the premium version with no ads costs $9.99 per month.
Paramount+ will be the only video streaming service that will be offered as a perk for Walmart+ members. Although the New York Times earlier reported that the retail giant was also in talks with Disney and Comcast.
Walmart launched its membership program almost two years ago, competing with Amazon’s Prime subscription. The retailer wanted to hit two birds with one stone: drive sales and nurture deeper customer engagement. Members pay a fee of $98 per year or $12.95 per month for special perks like free shipping for online orders, free delivery for grocery orders $35 and over, and discounts on gas and prescriptions.
The announcement of the deal came just over a week after a recent round of layoffs of corporate employees.
Walmart last traded at $140.23 on the NYSE, down 3.06% year-to-date.
Information for this briefing was found via Walmart, the New York Times and the companies and sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
