Amazon brings free shipping minimum back down to $35

Amazon's Prime Air makes first drone delivery
Amazon's Prime Air makes first drone delivery

The battle between Amazon and Walmart is heating up.

Amazon has lowered its free shipping minimum for non-Prime members to $35 -- a nearly 29% drop.

The company increased its free shipping threshold to $49 from $35 almost a year ago.

Items will be delivered five to eight days after they are available to ship.

Amazon didn't specify exactly when the minimum was lowered, but did say the change happened "recently."

Orders that contain at least $25 of eligible books also ship free.

Shoppers with an Amazon (AMZN) Prime membership, which costs $10.99 a month or $99 a year, get unlimited free two-day shipping on eligible items along with other benefits like streaming TV, movies and music.

Related: Move over, Amazon: Here comes Walmart

As more people turn to online shopping, Walmart (WMT) and Amazon have been competing for customers.

Walmart started offering free two-day shipping without a membership fee on orders of at least $35 on January 31. It had previously offered unlimited free two-day shipping with its $49-a-year-ShippingPass subscription.

On Tuesday, Walmart reported its e-commerce revenue increased 29% in the fourth quarter from a year ago. Amazon reported earlier this month that total sales rose 22% in the same period.

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