Wal-Mart Tries To Steal Amazon Prime Day's Thunder

Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN's second annual Prime Day sales event is widely expected to occur in mid-July. This time, however, a major foe won't be sitting by idly.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT announced on Wednesday it plans to offer new members a free 30-day trial for its equivalent to Amazon Prime called "ShippingPass," while existing members will receive an extra free month to their service.

The timing of Wal-Mart's promotional offer is hardly a coincidence. The company is looking to boost its market share in the online space and hopes to do so with its more economical $49 a year membership to ShippingPass versus Amazon Prime's $99 a year.

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However, Wal-Mart may have a hard time in winning over customers from Amazon. While Wal-Mart's online store offers more than 7 million items, the figure comes in well short of Amazon Prime's 20 million.

Amazon also offers its members access to a growing library of streaming video and music. Naturally, Wal-Mart believes it can offer consumers a better deal.

"ShippingPass is about half the price of similar programs out there at just $49 a year, and customers who are using it, love it," the company noted. "They shop on Walmart.com more often to take advantage of our low prices, fast shipping and added benefits of no minimum order requirements and free online or in-store returns. Once you start using it, it's hard not to notice the everyday low prices on the stuff you need and want."