Brian Lutz wrote: ↑March 31st, 2024, 9:39 am
In my experience with the Sam's Club here, there seems to be little no card checking at the door right now. There's an employee at the door, but it seems like people can basically just walk in and out at will, and with the scan-and-go in the app there can be basically no interaction with anyone in the warehouse beyond the receipt checker if you wish. I get the impression this particular store is often understaffed though, which probably contributes to this sense. I also see that my Sam's Club app still has just a plain numeric barcode in the member section. Then again. I just use scan-and-go when I shop there anyway, much easier than dealing with the checkouts.
I had noticed my Sam's app updated yesterday and I happened to go into the store. That is when I got the pop up message that I needed to activate the new digital barcode and that the app only will work 3 more times until it is activated. It sends you a text with a six digit code to activate it. The new "matrix" barcode loads but there is still a option to show the "old" barcode.
So this hard links a membership to a cell phone number. I would imagine that would address promotional membership games, but I have the Plus membership and earn Sam's Cash quickly enough that I don't pay anything anyway each year once that is factored in. Realistically Costco has been playing the same promotional game for six months now, basically buy a $55 membership and get a $30 gift card so it's only $25 for your first year. You have to ask for the offer but they're pretty much giving it away when they catch people card sharing.
As far as Sam's assortment, they have about 5,000 SKUs compared to 3,000 at Costco. They have some restaurant supply type stuff that Costco would only carry at business centers now. But they have been gradually moving that stuff online except for consumables and expanding more for the consumer. They used to carry almost 7,000 SKUs at Sam's but as we all know they couldn't manage the inventory well, they had bulk stacks in the aisles and other nonsense which has all been cleaned out and SKU rationalized. When I first saw a remodeled store I thought they had added more merchandise because of the improved layout when in fact a couple thousand items were removed to clear the clutter. Not one item I would shop them for disappeared so they must have known what they were doing. It felt like they really cut the vending machine type stuff, clunkier restaurant equipment and business oriented office supplies the most. They also stopped buying Walmart type deal junk like stacks of noname air fryers for $25 and such. The end result is the assortment skews much higher end, aligned with the Costco demographic.
Where Sam's excels is seasonal merchandise, far better assortment and quality than Costco. Clothing has been improving and is now comparable to Costco with really good quality basics in their house brand. All the house brand items are comparable to Kirkland, I would argue many are better and I have favorites all over the store. They have some really fun areas, spices and seasonings changes constantly and has probably 5 times the selection of Costco with lots of limited buys. Meat is a larger assortment and they have smaller packs at same price which is great for a smaller household. Their Home department is fantastic, the best quality towels, sheets, etc. Deli and Bakery in my opinion are hit or miss, selection is probably double Costco but they have some lower quality items thrown in. They do get lots of seasonal limited time foods, had some fantastic stuff for Octoberfest. Incredible quality garden stuff. Sam's is not the same as it was 5 years ago and continues to get better. They have a very large program where they target their top 10,000 members to test and adjust new house brand products before they come out, so their Members Mark brand moved from being bulk Walmart stuff to rivaling or exceeding Kirkland Signature. I don't care for the Sam's cafe operation but their hot dog is much better than Costco.
The areas I think Costco does better in are electronics, produce, limited time high dollar items, liquor (although Sam's just tripled their selection of whiskeys and tequilas but didn't have anything that excited me yet), bakery and deli, tires, pharmacy, furniture, appliances, and of course the food court.
Sam's selection, especially in the middle of the store, is more fun these days. I went over ten years without shopping Sam's because it was just Walmart junk in bulk in a clunky store, but they have completely reinvented the store and it keeps getting better. Costco is very stagnant and set in their ways, which I can understand from an operational perspective due to their volume where any new friction could cost millions of dollars in a single day. Sam's is the innovator in the industry now, not Costco, and it shows in their performance as they've flipped from years of downsizing and closures to remodeling nearly the entire chain and now expanding again with new warehouses under construction that are larger than what Costco builds today.
And the convenience offerings like the free curbside pickup for Plus members, free shipping etc. all come from Scan and Go and a really good self checkout. One supports the other, and yes half the cashiers went to order pulling where they get more hours, full time status and a fixed work schedule. They're actually treating their people well and it seems like every time I go now there's new faces on a board congratulating employees for 5, 10 year and up milestones. A decade ago Sam's felt like all minimum wage workers that didn't know anything or care because they were going to find a new job next week. Now I see the same people every time I shop there.
They're different like Coke and Pepsi, I can put up with either one but I would say my warehouse visits these days are 60% Costco, 40% Sam's and I usually wind up with a fuller basket at Sam's.