CHICAGO—Nearly two-thirds of U.S. households subscribe to a retail membership, with over 62% of households holding at least one retail membership, according to Numerator’s Retail Membership Tracker, which compares Amazon Prime, Walmart+ and Target’s Shipt Everyday subscription programs.

While Amazon Prime retains the highest satisfaction rate, and Walmart+ has shown the fastest adoption, Target’s Shipt Everyday is breaking out with same-day delivery and capturing more trips, spending and share from subscribers than Amazon or Walmart.

Over half of U.S. households subscribe to Amazon Prime, which is six times more than Walmart+. Although Walmart+ has gained rapid adoption (8.1% of households) since its 2020 launch, Amazon still has the majority, with 53.6% of U.S. households subscribing to Prime. Shipt Everday has a smaller share (1.3%) as it is available in limited markets.

Nearly 4 in 5 Prime members only subscribe to Prime—78% of Prime members do not subscribe to other retail membership programs, substantially higher than the exclusivity of Shipt Everyday (28% of their members) or Walmart+ (24%). Also, Walmart+ subscribers are likely to have Prime, with nearly three-quarters (73%) of Walmart+ subscribers also subscribing to Amazon Prime, while 53% of Shipt Everyday members also have Prime.

Eighty percent of Prime members intend to renew, compared to 49% of Shipt subscribers and 48% of Walmart+ subscribers. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Prime Members indicate high satisfaction levels, followed by Shipt Everyday (55%) and Walmart+ (46%). Consumers place the highest value on shipping speed, with Shipt Everyday leading for same-day delivery. Shipt members are much more likely to cite same-day delivery as a key benefit to membership. Prime members claim expedited shipping as a key benefit.

Shipt Everyday program outperforms despite limited availability. While all three programs capture higher amounts of trips, spending and share among their subscribers compared to all shoppers, Shipt Everyday outperforms its baseline metrics two times over—capturing 10.1% of their subscribers’ share versus 4.3% of their total shoppers’ share.

However, Walmart+ is driving loyalty. Walmart+ captures the highest purchase frequency, buy rate and share of wallet from subscribers out of all programs tracked—capturing 18.5% of its subscribers’ share versus 14.6% of their total shoppers’ share.

The majority of consumers subscribe to just one retail membership program—80% of households subscribe to one program, 13.8% subscribe to two programs, 3.7% subscribe to three and 2.5% subscribe to four or more. Multi-program subscribers are more likely to be affluent, ethnically diverse, and values driven. They are more likely to be Black or Hispanic/Latino, from larger households, buy on impulse, and are more aware of the corporate values behind the products they buy.

According to Leroy Kelsey, NACS research director, convenience retailers are testing subscription models to skirt shopper resistance to premiums. Subscriptions make upselling, cross-selling and basket-building easier. They also reduce the cost to acquire customers and streamlines sales forecasting, plus they build loyalty and make revenue predictable.

“Prior to the pandemic c-store shopper e-commerce membership was 32% and growing by about 5% each year,” said Kelsey at the 2022 NACS SOI Summit. “The lockdown and busy lifestyles have doubled that type of engagement.”