The landscape of online retail has long been viewed as a fierce battleground, primarily dominated by titans like Amazon and Walmart. For years, industry observers assumed a head-to-head competition for consumer loyalty, with each giant striving to be the sole preferred subscription service. However, recent trends suggest a surprising twist in this narrative: a significant portion of consumers, particularly millennials, are choosing to subscribe to both Amazon Prime and Walmart+. This dual-subscription phenomenon is not merely a sign of subscription fatigue but rather a sophisticated new retail hedging strategy, fundamentally reshaping our understanding of consumer behavior and loyalty.
A revealing report from PYMNTS Intelligence, titled “Winning Both Carts: Millennials Drive Surge in Having Amazon Prime & Walmart+ Subscriptions,” indicates that a growing number of consumers in the United States are sidestepping the perceived rivalry altogether. Instead of picking a side, they are strategically leveraging the distinct advantages offered by each platform. This innovative approach reflects a desire to maximize value and minimize risk in an increasingly volatile economic environment, challenging the traditional notion that consumers must pledge allegiance to a single brand.
The Rise of Dual Subscriptions: A Strategic Consumer Shift
The surge in dual subscriptions is striking. The report highlights that the number of consumers holding both Prime and Walmart+ memberships has nearly doubled between 2021 and early 2025. This rapid growth underscores a fundamental shift in how people manage their retail needs. While both Amazon and Walmart continue to hold significant market shares in their respective domains—Amazon dominating discretionary online retail and Walmart commanding the grocery sector—the overlooked story is how consumers are cleverly layering these services. This stacking strategy is designed to shield them from the pressures of higher prices and the uncertainties of global supply chains.
Millennials Leading the Way in Retail Adaptability
Millennials are unequivocally at the forefront of this trend, emerging as the power subscribers driving much of this growth. A remarkable 37% of millennials now pay for both Amazon Prime and Walmart+ subscriptions, demonstrating a clear preference for a multi-platform approach. Furthermore, eight out of ten millennials maintain at least one retail subscription, highlighting their comfort and reliance on such services. This contrasts sharply with older demographics; for instance, 42% of baby boomers and seniors opt for neither. Even households facing financial constraints increasingly treat these memberships as essential household utilities, rather than optional luxuries, valuing the savings and convenience they provide.
This dual-track approach allows consumers to optimize their spending and access specific benefits from each service. One month, the allure might be Walmart’s attractive fuel discounts and seamless grocery shopping experience. The next, it could be Amazon’s expansive streaming perks, lightning-fast delivery on electronics, or diverse product selection. Consumers are not bound by outdated notions of loyalty; instead, they are pragmatic. They curate their subscription portfolio to best suit their evolving needs, effectively mitigating the inflationary pinch of recent years and adapting to a retail landscape where flexibility is key.
Walmart’s Niche: The Uncontested Grocery Gatekeeper
The report’s findings also shed light on Walmart’s strategic positioning. It has firmly established itself as the "grocery gatekeeper." Nearly 30% of all consumers stated that their most recent grocery purchase was made at Walmart, a figure that dwarfs Amazon’s 1.3%. Among those who hold both Prime and Walmart+ subscriptions, the disparity is even more pronounced: 44% bought groceries at Walmart versus a mere 4% at Amazon. These statistics clearly illustrate that while Amazon excels in many areas, Walmart retains a dominant hold on the crucial grocery segment, making its subscription a valuable complement to Prime.
Interestingly, many of Walmart’s recent gains are not derived from attracting entirely new, uncommitted shoppers. Instead, a significant portion comes from persuading existing Amazon Prime members to add a second subscription to their repertoire. In essence, Walmart has managed to transform Amazon’s vast customer base into a pipeline for its own potential new customers. This creates an unusual and innovative dynamic in the fiercely competitive retail wars, where collaboration—or at least co-existence—proves more fruitful than direct competition for the same wallet share.
The Economic Impact of Dual Subscribers
Perhaps unsurprisingly, dual subscribers represent the highest-spending cohort across the retail landscape. On average, these consumers spend an impressive $110 per retail transaction. This figure significantly surpasses the $78 spent by Prime-only members and the $75 spent by Walmart+-only shoppers. This heightened spending is not confined to everyday purchases; it spikes noticeably during crucial retail periods such as spring sales, the back-to-school season, and the lucrative December holidays. This makes dual subscribers a particularly attractive and profitable segment for both Amazon and Walmart.
The overarching takeaway is that consumers are not abandoning one platform for the other. Instead, they are intelligently integrating both services into their daily lives, demonstrating a sophisticated understanding of how to leverage each for maximum benefit. For households meticulously managing their budgets from paycheck to paycheck, Walmart+ offers invaluable fuel discounts and grocery savings. Concurrently, for higher-income households, Amazon Prime continues to be the undisputed leader for discretionary retail and convenience. For a growing segment of the population, the optimal answer simply involves having both. Retailers once strived to be the ultimate one-stop shop; however, the new paradigm suggests that the true winners are those agile enough to share the cart, recognizing the diversified and pragmatic approach of today’s informed consumer.
