Consumer loyalty is no longer driven by price alone. Increasingly, the world’s largest retailers, technology companies, and delivery platforms invest in subscription programs that bundle together services that once had little to do with one another.
What began as straightforward memberships offering free shipping or discounted deliveries has evolved into something much larger. Today’s subscription programs combine entertainment, travel, groceries, AI tools, fuel savings, and financial perks into sprawling ecosystems designed to become indispensable parts of daily life.
The goal is simple: create enough everyday value that members see the subscription as worth keeping. And it isn’t a winner-takes-all dynamic. Most consumers belong to multiple loyalty programs simultaneously, choosing the ones that fit different needs, habits, and priorities. The strongest programs simply become complementary parts of a consumer’s routine.
Walmart+ Goes Into the Restaurant Business
Walmart recently announced that customers in select locations can now order Subway directly through the Walmart app or Walmart.com. The service marks Walmart’s first restaurant integration for Express Delivery, putting the retailer in direct competition with DoorDash and Uber Eats.
Orders carry a flat Express Delivery fee of $10 for Walmart+ members and roughly $20 for non-members, with Subway’s prices matching its in-restaurant menus. The launch will expand to approximately 1,400 locations by the end of the summer.
Beyond food delivery, Walmart+ already bundles a significant suite of perks, including free home delivery, a Paramount+ or Peacock subscription, and travel booking discounts through a partnership with Expedia.
Uber One Expands Far Beyond Food
Uber has been making similar moves with its Uber One membership. In its GO–GET 2026 announcement, Uber revealed a partnership with Expedia Group, giving U.S. users access to more than 700,000 hotel properties, with Uber One members unlocking 20% off discounts on a rotating list of 10,000 hotels.
Uber One members pay $0 delivery fees on eligible food, grocery, and other orders, and a new “Shop for Me” feature lets users request items from any store — even those not on the app. Uber Black riders in select cities will soon be able to pre-order a coffee or snack to have waiting in the vehicle when it arrives. And a newer perk includes “Fresh Tuesdays,” where subscribers can snag up to 30% off select grocery items.
Uber One has grown to more than 46 million members, generating more than 40% of the company’s total platform bookings. Credit card partnerships increasingly subsidize the membership. For example, American Express gives Platinum cardholders up to $120 in annual statement credits to cover the Uber One membership cost.
Amazon Keeps Adding to the Prime Bundle
Amazon’s broader Prime bundle also continues to expand: Prime now includes a free Grubhub+ membership, Whole Foods grocery delivery, Prime Gaming with free monthly PC games, and Amazon Luna cloud gaming access.
Using Prime membership as the delivery vehicle for Alexa+, Amazon’s next-generation assistant powered by generative AI is available free for Prime members and has introduced agentic capabilities that can actually execute tasks — including grocery shopping, ride booking, and reservation making.
Amazon has also launched a new browser-based experience at Alexa.com and a dedicated mobile app, so users can start a conversation on an Echo device, continue on their phone, and pick it up on a computer, with Alexa+ maintaining context across all endpoints.
DoorDash and the Streaming Crossover
DoorDash has also been experimenting with bundling entertainment into its DashPass subscription. An annual DashPass plan includes an HBO Max with Ads streaming subscription at no additional cost, blurring the line between a food delivery membership and a media subscription.
DashPass is also deeply embedded in wireless carrier offerings: T-Mobile’s new Better Value plan includes free DashPass by DoorDash as part of its benefits package, alongside streaming services and travel perks, meaning some consumers are getting it as part of their phone bill without ever signing up separately.
Apple One Premier
Meanwhile, Apple has been quietly adding services to its Premier bundle. Apple One’s Premier plan added Apple Invites and Apple News+ Food to its existing lineup, which already includes Apple TV+, Apple Music, Apple Arcade, Fitness+, iCloud+, and News+. According to Apple’s website, a Premier plan saves subscribers $29 per month compared to purchasing all six services individually. The bundle approach keeps users in the Apple ecosystem while making individual cancellations feel economically irrational.
The Common Thread
Across all of these moves, the playbook is consistent: take an existing subscription with a clear core value proposition, then expand it into adjacent categories — food, travel, AI, streaming, fuel, etc. — until opting out means losing too many things at once.
The more services a single membership covers, the stickier it becomes. More and more retailers are starting to figure out a key component of the evolving retail landscape: the subscription itself is now the product. Everything added to it is just a reason not to leave.
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