Walmart is giving everyone a month of free shipping

Deals draw crowds to closing Walmart
Deals draw crowds to closing Walmart

Walmart's Amazon Prime competitor just got more competitive.

The mega retailer's ShippingPass program is now available for a free 30-day trial. Even existing ShippingPass customers can partake in the deal -- Walmart will automatically tack on an extra month to their subscriptions, gratis.

Looking to take a slice out of Amazon's online retail dominance, Walmart (WMT) introduced the $50-a-year ShippingPass subscription service last year.

Initially, ShippingPass only offered free three-day shipping. But in May, Walmart matched Amazon Prime with unlimited two-day shipping -- while trimming the price to $49 a year. That's less than half Amazon's $99 price for Prime.

In addition to unlimited two-day shipping, ShippingPass also lets Walmart customers purchase items with no minimum order requirements, and returns are free -- both online and in store.

The program's free one-month trial offer matches Amazon's similar 30-day free trial for Prime.

Related: Walmart's Smiley is back after 10 years and a lawsuit

Unlike ShippingPass, Prime includes many services beyond two-day shipping, including Amazon (AMZN) Instant Video, Amazon Music, unlimited photo storage and free e-books.

Free shipping subscription services have been a big boon to retailers. In a press release, Fernando Madeira, CEO of Walmart U.S., noted that ShippingPass customers shop on Walmart.com more often than non-subscribers. Amazon has said that Prime subscribers are far more likely to purchase items on Amazon, even if they just purchase the subscription for the video or music services.

As brick-and-mortar retail sales swoon, Walmart has been ramping up its online efforts. The company bought a stake in Chinese e-retailer JD last week, and Madeira said that Walmart will be introducing new ways to connect the Walmart app, site and store in the coming weeks.

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