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<p>NEW YORK (AP) &#8212; Wal-Mart is replacing a program that offered free shipping but had an annual fee with one that has a lower free shipping threshold and faster delivery as it hopes to answer Amazon&#8217;s powerful Prime membership success.</p><p>The retailer says it will reduce shipping time to two days on 2 million of its most popular items including essentials like diapers and pet food as well hot toys and Electronics. Wal-Mart&#8217;s average shipping time has been three to five days. Starting Tuesday morning, it&#8217;s also reducing the spending necessary for free shipping to $35 from $50.</p><p>Wal-Mart&#8217;s ShippingPass had allowed members to buy more than a million items for free shipping at Walmart.com. Last year, it trimmed its shipping time frame to two days from three, and it cut the annual fee by a dollar to $49. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart said the service worked well, but that it concluded shoppers shouldn&#8217;t have to pay a membership fee for free shipping.</p><p>The strategy shift is one of the first big moves by Walmart.com&#8217;s CEO Mark Lore, who joined the company when Wal-Mart bought online retailer Jet.com last year. And it&#8217;s an illustration of how Wal-Mart is trying to figure out a way to compete with Amazon and its dominant Prime plan.</p><p>Amazon&#8217;s membership program costs $99 a year, but includes services like streaming music and video that have created fierce loyalty. Analysts say Amazon Prime members buy more frequently and spend more money. Amazon doesn&#8217;t disclose a Prime subscriber total, but it&#8217;s estimated to be around 65 million. Wal-Mart wouldn&#8217;t say how many ShippingPass subscribers it had, but all will receive a refund of their membership fee.</p><p>Lore declined to comment on Amazon, but said lower prices, a wider assortment of eligible goods and faster shipping alone can build loyalty. Lore promised more moves ahead to spur Wal-Mart&#8217;s online business.</p><p>&#8220;Two-day, free shipping is table stakes,&#8221; he said in a conference call Monday. &#8220;We&#8217;ve upped the ante. On a very fundamental level, we don&#8217;t have to charge for membership. We can save customers both time and money.&#8221;</p><p>Lore said he believes the new approach will dramatically increase sales. Wal-Mart&#8217;s online sales had been slowing over the past two years, but notably accelerated during last year&#8217;s third quarter. Wal-Mart reports fourth-quarter results next month.</p><p>Wal-Mart said purchases outside the 2 million &#8220;essentials&#8221; will count toward free shipping, but won&#8217;t get the faster delivery.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114799222-f28b525422e84080802b0cf31655b093-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">A worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Wal-Mart store in La Habra, Calif. Wal-Mart is replacing a program that offered free shipping but had an annual fee with one that has a lower free shipping threshold and faster delivery as it hopes to answer Amazon&#8217;s powerful Prime membership success. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/web1_114799222-f28b525422e84080802b0cf31655b093-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>A worker pushes shopping carts in front of a Wal-Mart store in La Habra, Calif. Wal-Mart is replacing a program that offered free shipping but had an annual fee with one that has a lower free shipping threshold and faster delivery as it hopes to answer Amazon&#8217;s powerful Prime membership success. </caption0><photoCredit0>Jae C. Hong File Photo | AP Photo </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Anne D&#8217;Innocenzio</p><p>AP Retail Writer</p></bylineMeta></div>

Wal-Mart opts for free, faster shipping on necessities