The world’s biggest retailer and one of its biggest online travel agencies announced Tuesday a groundbreaking partnership that creates a new travel platform for Walmart shopping club members and gives them cash rewards for each booking.
Expedia Group is powering the new WalmartPlusTravel.com, which is accessible only to members of Walmart+, the retailer's subscription program.
Members get 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals, car rentals and activities, and they receive 2% back on flights.
Launched in 2020, Walmart+ costs $98 per year or $12.95 per month and, according to Consumer Research Intelligence, has about 12 million subscribers.
It definitely behooves organizations to associate themselves with travel and to sell travel because it’s something that brings people together across many different verticals.
Lorraine Sileo – Phocuswright
“We're bringing together the ultimate savings membership and vacation booking site to deliver a first-ever, travel-focused benefit for Walmart+ members,” said Venessa Yates, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart+. “Combined with our other benefits - including free delivery, streaming and savings on fuel - we’re creating a membership that saves customers time and money, whether they’re at home or having fun at their favorite vacation destination.”
Making it work is Expedia Group’s White Label Technology, which gives access to more than 900,000 properties, 500 airlines, 100 car rental companies and thousands of activities around the world.
“We’re delighted to launch this collaboration with Walmart, America’s largest retailer, making planning, shopping and booking travel a new and seamless part of Walmart’s shopping experience,” said Ariane Gorin, president of Expedia for Business. “Together, we’re connecting Walmart’s massive customer base with Expedia Group’s extensive array of travel supply partners from all around the world.”
Walmart+ members also will have access to Expedia Group customer service, allowing members to ask questions about their trip or make changes, whether with live agents or self-serve capabilities, like the company’s artificial intelligence-powered virtual agent.
To secure the benefits, members can choose travel options through their member benefits hub in the app or the website. Thirty days after travel is completed, the Walmart Cash can be used on future purchases or cashed out at a store.
Who's next? Amazon?
The new deal continues a trend of OTAs partnering with non-travel brands such as financial institutions and retailers.
Expedia Group has been especially active in the field, announcing 55% growth in B2B revenue in the first quarter this year and then unveiling a partnership with Mastercard so that its cardholders could redeem loyalty points for travel through Expedia.
“It definitely behooves organizations to associate themselves with travel and to sell travel because it’s such a universal product, and it’s something that brings people together across many different verticals,” said Lorraine Sileo, a senior analyst and founder of Phocuswright research. “There are travel components in almost everything that we do.”
Sileo focused on the trend in her recent report, No Travel Experience Necessary: More Outsiders Enter the OTA Market. Besides Mastercard and Walmart, Expedia has similar partnerships with AARP, the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for seniors, as well as American Express, JPMorgan Chase and TD Bank. Booking.com has deals with T-Mobile, Citi and Apple. And Hopper teams with Capital One and Uber.
The deals are examples of the new ease with which OTAs can provide plug-and-play options to partners with little or no travel expertise. As the Walmart-Expedia partnership demonstrates, both partners have something to gain, Sileo said.
“Most of the value to Walmart may not be gaining those commissions [from travel sales] but having that value added to the customer, getting more customers to join their [membership club],” she said. “That’s what they’re looking for. That’s their priority.
“For Expedia, it’s just about just continuing to get new customers. It’s the reach of Walmart. You’re hitting a different type of customer. Maybe these are people who only travel once or twice a year, but you’re going to bring them under the Expedia umbrella.”
This is not Walmart’s first foray into travel sales, Sileo noted in her report. The company offered air, car and hotel bookings on its website in the early 2000s before shutting that down.
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Among retailers, Costco stands out, Sileo wrote. The company’s travel website, Costcotravel.com, attracted nearly 3.7 million unique visitors in the first quarter of 2023 to rank 14th in the hotel and accommodations category tracked by Similarweb. But Costco’s offerings, generally limited to the destinations and activities for which the big box retailer can negotiate a discounted price, differ from the breadth of options non-travel companies can provide when partnered with OTAs.
Walmart’s deal is likely stir more speculation among industry observers who have wondered for years about when or if Amazon would plunge into the travel rapids. Sileo isn’t so sure.
“Amazon, maybe they know something,” she said. “It’s not like they need more members. It’s not a ton of revenue. This is about stickiness and loyalty. They seem to have already achieved that.
“I’m not holding my breath and feeling like Amazon is worried that Walmart’s working with Expedia on selling travel.”