Walmart Plus membership: 3 reasons to give it a go for the Holidays

Walmart Plus prices memberships

By now, you may well have seen in-store promos and ads on TV for the new Walmart Plus membership service, but are still wondering if it's worth signing up. There are good reasons to join up whether you're someone that likes to shop in person, or if you've transitioned to doing your grocery shopping online due to the way 2020 has panned out.

If you decide to keep the service beyond the 15-day free trial it'll cost you $12.95 a month, or you can opt for an annual deal at just $98 a year. That annual deal is something of a steal as it saves you $57.40 compared to paying that monthly price for a year, so we'd recommend upgrading after a month or two if Walmart Plus is working out for you.

Let's have quick look at some of the best reasons we think becoming a member might be worth it for anyone with a Walmart in their area.

1: Free delivery with no minimum spend

This is a big one folks and it's new too. Back when Walmart Plus originally launched in September there was a $35 minimum spend in order to get free delivery. 

Sure, $35 is easy to get to for larger households doing the main grocery shop, but for anyone living on their own or when it comes down to smaller orders, it might have meant sometimes adding more things to your basket than you really wanted to avoid paying extra for delivery.

The removal of this limitation really helps cut out those irritating trips you find yourself making because you forgot a few things from your big shopping trip. More to the point right now, if you're trying to stay extra safe during the winter months from the pandemic and regular flu season (don't forget the classics folks), then having a convenient delivery service is incredibly useful and it's one less place to worry about social distancing around indoors with other people.

2: Get a 15-day Walmart Plus free trial

This is the absolute best option to help you decide if a Walmart Plus membership is for you, and you can do that for no charge with a 15-day free trial. Simply make a note in your diary or set a reminder on your phone to cancel if you don't want it to roll into a monthly payment plan. Not that you're tied into a long-term deal if you forget, or decide to ditch it after a few months.

A Walmart Plus free trial lets you try out the full range of benefits the service offers and should give you plenty of time to do a few big shops and see how reliable the service is from your local store when opting for pickup or home delivery.

3: Mobile Scan & Go

If you're still going to be heading into stores rather than relying on home delivery - we get it, sometimes you want to see what you're buying and more things can catch your eye when you shop in person - then you'll love the Mobile Scan & Go perk of Walmart Plus membership. 

As you add items to your basket in-store you can use the new app to scan the items and then scan a code at self-checkout to pay and away you go without having to rescan everything. We like how scanning items while you're moving around the store keeps a running total of how much you have in your basket, which is great if you're trying to stick to a budget and not overspend. It'll also come in handy when the price ticket has gone AWOL from the shelf and you want to check the price on something.

Check out more perks of the service (including member discounts on fuel) and if Walmart Plus is available in your area via the link below.

Brendan Griffiths

Brendan is GamesRadar's former Managing Editor of the Hardware & eCommerce team. He also spent time as the Deals Editor at our sister site, TechRadar. He's obsessed with finding the best tech, games, gadgets, and hardware at the lowest price. He also spends way too much of his free time trying to decide what new things to watch on Netflix, then just rewatches It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia instead. Nowadays you'll find him as the eCommerce Content Director for Future's mobile tech sites, Android Central, iMore, and Windows Central.