Wal-mart is reportedly launching a subscription shopping service to take on Amazon

Wal-Mart is preparing to launch a subscription service for speedy-shipping to take on Amazon's $99-per-year Prime service, The Information's Amir Efrati reports.

The service would reportedly cost less than Amazon Prime, but wouldn't include Amazon's features like free video and music streaming - at least at first.

Wal-Mart already offers same-day grocery delivery in five cities and lets shoppers buy things online and then pick them up in stores, but this would be a big move that would require more infrastructure.

In its Q4 earnings in February, Wal-Mart said that the company will have four new distribution centers across the US open for shipping soon.

Sources tell Efrati that Wal-Mart's service is codenamed "Tahoe," and that it was originally pegged to launch before the 2014 winter holidays. Now, it's on track to launch early this summer.

A Prime-like service could help Wal-Mart boost its e-commerce sales, which are growing slower than Amazon's.

But, it doesn't sound like the company plans on investing too much in this new service.

"It's not a bet-the-company thing, something that we think will change everything," one source told Efrati.

Separately, eBay is also reportedly testing its own Prime-like service, which would give customers free, next-day shipping on certain products.

Read the rest of The Information's story here.

Business Insider reached out to Amazon and Wal-Mart for comment.

Disclosure: Jeff Bezos is an investor in Business Insider through his personal investment company Bezos Expeditions.