Amazon Prime competitor Walmart Plus in testing phase - CNET

Primed for an Amazon smackdown?

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Walmart is again putting together a paid membership program to compete with Amazon Prime. The retail giant has been working on a service called Walmart Plus for 18 months, as reported earlier Thursday by Vox. The service could be tested publicly next month, Vox said, and would be a rebranding of the big-box chain's $98 a year Delivery Unlimited program for grocery shopping.

Walmart Plus, which was confirmed by Walmart in an email, could also include text messaging to place orders at stores, Vox reported.

Walmart rolled out a similar program, called ShippingPass, in 2015 but canceled it two years later. ShippingPass offered unlimited two-day shipments on Walmart.com for $49 a year. 

Originally published Feb. 27, 1:01 p.m. PT.
Update, 3:37 p.m.: Adds confirmation from Walmart.

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