Removing Xinjiang goods to withdraw the tide of cards? Sam, who has four million paid members, has said it's accelerating its expansion

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Nandu Shenzhen Tel: [phone]

Nandu News Reporter Chen Yingshan On the morning of December 29, the topic of "Sam's return card" was in the top three of the Weibo hot search list. Previously, according to the netizen "Sam targeted removal of Xinjiang goods", Nandu had visited the Sam's Club Store in Shenzhen Printing Center, and many of the Xinjiang goods that had been sold at the scene had disappeared and replaced them with similar goods from other production areas. In Sam's Club stores everywhere, there has also been a situation where Xinjiang goods have disappeared. As of The Time of Writing, Sam's officials have not responded to the situation. And Sam's customer service has also changed from the previous manual online reply to the message board.

In November 2021, Sam's Club announced that its paid membership in China had exceeded 4 million. Based on the membership fee of 260 yuan per year, Sam's membership fee income contributed more than 1.04 billion yuan this year. Sam's Club, as an expansion format promoted by Wal-Mart in recent years, is currently on the hot search because of consumer returns.

Shenzhen store Xinjiang goods are still not on the shelves Some consumers have posted refund bills

On the 25th, Nandu went to the Sam's Store of Shenzhen Indian Power Center for a field visit, and a number of common Xinjiang goods were missing. In the official APP of Sam's Club, the reporter entered the word "Xinjiang" for keyword search, and got a pop-up prompt "Sorry, did not find the relevant goods"; and opened the search bar to prompt other popular terms associated with the word "Xinjiang", such as "Xinjiang Hetian jujube" and "Xinjiang raisins" and "Xinjiang cantaloupe", although it shows that there are related goods; but according to the reporter's on-site visit, the origin of these goods is not from Xinjiang, such as the most common Xinjiang Hetian jujube is not sold. In its place are a brand of red dates from Shenzhen. At present, Xinjiang goods from the Sam's Store of Shenzhen Indian Power Center are still on the shelves.

Some Shenzhen consumers learned that Sam's store dropped Xinjiang goods, said they could not accept it and chose to return the card. "My mother likes to eat Xinjiang raisins sold by Sam very much, and originally said that she would buy a large batch of them a few years ago, but she didn't expect to sell them!" Mr. Zhang, a citizen, chose to return the card before the arrival of the new year. According to the site visit, Sam's current raisins for sale are from Hebei Province.

Online, many consumers also posted a screenshot of the refund card slip and the refund of 260 yuan. In terms of the reason and type of return card, many consumers directly stated that Sam removed Xinjiang goods and was not satisfied with the service.

For Sam's stores to concentrate on removing Xinjiang goods, although Sam's customer service has previously said to the outside world that it is because of insufficient inventory and cannot be listed, the specific replenishment time is to be determined. However, in response to such a reply, a large number of netizens do not pay the bill, and the attentive netizens point out that in the past when the inventory was insufficient, the relevant goods would not be blocked from related terms, and now the online mall can not see the relevant product information very strange.

There are also many voices on the Internet about returning cards. Some consumers said that they believe that Sam's removal of Xinjiang goods lacks a reasonable explanation, and should be resolutely resisted, and the refund of cards and refunds is reasonable. Some consumers also said that there are still other good consumer goods in Sam, and they will not boycott it, but still hold a rational and restrained attitude.

With more than 4 million members, Walmart's accelerated expansion of the membership industry

On the one hand, it is the "Sam's withdrawal tide" that has rushed to the hot search, and on the other hand, Sam has entered a new round of expansion stage as the hottest membership format under Wal-Mart in recent years.

In November, Sam announced that he would have more than 4 million paid members in 2021 and operate more than 36 stores in 23 cities. According to the calculation of the annual membership fee of 260 yuan, Sam's normal membership revenue in 2021 exceeds 1.04 billion yuan. Previously, Sam had expected the number of stores to grow to 33 in 2021, and according to the current operation of 36 stores, Sam has completed the expected target ahead of schedule this year.

As Walmart's warehouse club, Sam's rapid expansion and the more familiar Walmart supermarket closure adjustment form two diametrically opposed states. The data shows that in the more than four years from 2016 to 2020, Walmart China has closed more than 80 stores. On December 7, the first Wal-Mart supermarket in mainland China and the first in Shenzhen officially closed its doors.

Membership-based retail, as a model that is commonly optimistic in the industry in the adjustment of the current retail format, has entered a dividend period in recent years. Costco, Hema Fresh Club, Carrefour Club, etc., have all entered the moment of horse racing. Consumers apply for membership cards, membership fees become the main income of this kind of member supermarket, based on the logic of consumer preferences, supermarkets to the upstream supply chain to the end of the good goods, good prices, natural consumers will be more willing to pay for membership to enjoy better and better quality goods and services. Thus forming a virtuous circle.

At the end of 2022, according to Sam's previous interview, it expects the number of stores to reach 40-45, and maintains the rate of opening 4-5 new stores per year, hoping to increase the number of stores to 100 in the next 8 years. It can be seen that Sam attaches importance to and expects the membership format.

However, membership is more focused on the consumer experience. Zhu Xiaojing, Walmart's new president of China, has said that for Sam, sales and profits are not the most critical assessment priorities, and the number of members and renewal rates are the key criteria for evaluating his performance. This time, although it is not known what the real situation of the card refund is, Sam has rushed to the hot search because of this topic, seeing that it is a big disadvantage for Sam's recent expansion pace.

So far, Walmart has not responded to relevant questions and situations. Responding as soon as possible is the attitude that consumers want to see.