Amazon extends discounted delivery benefit to EBT users

On Tuesday, Amazon announced it’s extending a new grocery delivery subscription to Prime members and customers who use EBT assistance.

The company is offering Prime members in more than 3,500 cities and towns a monthly $9.99 subscription for one-hour delivery, unlimited 30-minute order pick-up, and unlimited delivery on orders costing $35 or more from select grocers and specialty retailers. Nonmembers with a registered EBT card can get the same benefits for $4.99 per month.

“We have many different customers with many different needs, and we want to save them time and money every time they shop for groceries,” Tony Hoggett, SVP of worldwide grocery stores at Amazon, said in a statement.

Amazon isn’t the only major retailer to discount membership and subscriptions benefits for customers who receive government support.

Rival Walmart last year offered its Walmart+ membership program at half price for customers on government assistance, with the goal of “making it easier” for them to “take advantage of the full suite of savings Walmart+ has to offer them.”

• In 2019, Walmart joined another effort to extend grocery delivery to lower-income customers participating in the pilot for the USDA’s SNAP Online Purchase program, which allows customers to use SNAP benefits for online purchases.

These customers aren’t necessarily new to grocery delivery, either. According to data from Earnest Analytics, “households earning under $100k increased grocery delivery spending faster than their high income counterparts since January 2020.”

However, average ticket size was still higher for wealthier households.