"Can't you use the same membership card for both of you?"
Not long ago, a husband and wife went to Sam's Club in Nanjing to shop, and after the purchase was completed, the wife used her husband's membership card to settle the bill, but the cashier refused because the membership card was only for her own use and the transfer was invalid.
This is not an isolated case, and Sam's Clubs across the country will check to prevent fraudulent use of membership cards.
Many people do not understand Sam's Supermarket's strict inspection of membership cards, where does Sam's Supermarket have the confidence to reject consumers in such a difficult situation of offline retail?
As we all know, if you want to shop at Sam's Club, you have to spend 260 yuan to apply for a membership card, otherwise you won't be able to enter Sam's door.
Not only that, Sam's Club is not cheap, a bucket of instant noodles costs 168 yuan, once you go in, you can't get out without a thousand yuan.
It is precisely because of this that Sam's Supermarket has become the "standard" of the middle class, and whether you can afford to visit Sam's Supermarket has become a label that distinguishes the middle class from the poor.
It stands to reason that with such a high consumption threshold, this arrogant attitude will inevitably suffer a severe beating when it enters the country, but the reality is the opposite.
According to public information, in 2020, there were only 27 Sam's Club stores in Chinese mainland, but now there are as many as 45, and the growth rate is very obvious.
When traditional supermarkets were plagued by the three-year epidemic and e-commerce group buying, and continued to shrink and close down, Sam's was frantically expanding and opening stores.
Especially during the holidays, Sam's Club is crowded with people, and it is simply crazy to rob.
Why is Sam's Club so good, and why is it able to break out against the trend?
"Provide high-quality goods, only for members. ”
Sam's Club is a high-end membership store owned by Walmart, founded by Sam's, the founder of Walmart. In 1996, Sam's China opened its first store in Shenzhen, marking the first time that the membership system was launched in the mainland market.
In the 20 years since, Sam's Club has been silent in the Chinese market, with only a few stores in very few cities, and most of them are not doing well.
At that time, almost all the membership cards of large domestic supermarkets were free, but Sam took the membership card of 260 yuan as the threshold, which was naturally difficult to obtain the general recognition of the Chinese people, and it was not surprising that the door was crowded and the business was cold.
In 2015, Sam's still had only one store in Shanghai, with an average daily sales of barely 300,000 yuan, and it couldn't even maintain breakeven, and it seemed that it was not far from closing the store.
Sam's Club's inaction was once considered unsuitable, so much so that in the subsequent domestic new retail war, Sam's Club was directly ignored by the industry.
In this battle to change the future business landscape, on the one hand, there are the capital giants Hema, Jingdong Qixian, and Daily Youxian, which represent the new retail of the Internet, and on the other hand, there are hundreds of traditional supermarket giants Yonghui, RT-Mart, Carrefour, and Wal-Mart that have opened hundreds of stores across the country.
The rise of e-commerce and the launch of community group buying have made shopping more convenient, cheaper, and more varied. Traditional supermarkets, once loved by consumers for one-stop shopping, are dwarfed by their advantages.
Coupled with the three-year epidemic, it has exacerbated the transformation of the retail format.
Data shows that in 2022 alone, domestic supermarkets will close 1,138 stores, including Gome, Carrefour, Lianhua, Hongqi chain, Walmart, etc.
The sales of China Resources Vanguard shrank from 109.4 billion yuan at its peak to 69.2 billion yuan, Yonghui's share price fell from a high of 11 yuan to 3.5 yuan, and RT-Mart, which has always prided itself on its "zero store closure rate", has no choice but to survive.
But no one expected that Sam's Club would emerge in such a fierce competition and pull up Wal-Mart, which should have also fallen.
As of 2022, Walmart still has 365 stores in the mainland market, after closing more than 130 stores in the previous six years.
However, its Sam's Club has bucked the trend and single-handedly pulled Walmart's average store sales to 300 million.
As of the end of 2022, Sam's Club had 42 stores and 5 million members in the mainland market, with an annual membership fee income of more than 1 billion yuan and a revenue of about 66 billion yuan, which has surpassed the 370 stores of Hema Fresh.
Sam's has not only set a new record for average sales per store in Chinese supermarkets, but has also become an enviable example of all supermarkets wanting to be Sam's.
Sam's Club on Saturdays and Sundays is crowded.
Housewives, single youths, they come and go, go straight to the point, and soon fill the shopping cart, and the week's daily necessities are all in one go.
There used to be a membership card of 260 yuan that no one cared about, but now almost everyone has one. Each store with a total area of 20,000 square meters does not seem to be able to meet people's shopping needs.
The store has more than 4,000 kinds of good things from all over the world. Food and beverages, fish, meat, vegetables and fruits, washing and personal care, maternal and child products, digital home appliances, miscellaneous grains and dry goods, etc., are dazzling and have everything.
Oversized lobster from Boston, lamb shoulder rolls raised in natural pastures in Australia, 1.2-meter-long enlarged version of Lorenz original cut large fries, 9L Moët & Chandon champagne from the French centennial champagne region, and the representative 30L centennial gold medal Moutai, etc.
With the help of brand advantages and global procurement, the store will broadcast many surprise and good-priced products, such as international famous brand Panasonic hair dryers, L'Occitane body lotion, Helena black and white bandage sets, as well as oversized milk dragons that are widely loved by members, and Boston bucket bags with trendy design.
Here, you can not only feel the high quality and differentiation on a global scale, but also experience the trend of the times and the pulse of science and technology.
The same ski equipment as the world champion, the brand piano designated by the White House in the United States, and the giant panda doll that is half to one person tall are all children's favorites.
Obedient and dancing transformers, e-sports integrated space capsules, cost-effective drones and 3D printers all make tech enthusiasts fall in love.
In addition, you can enjoy free Chinese and Western food in the tasting area, and free blood pressure measurement, hearing measurement, and optometry at the health management center, all of which make shopping a pleasure.
"I'm a picky fanatic, and I usually shop around, but at Sam's, I'm right to buy with my eyes closed. ”
Ms. Chen, who has been a member for 12 years, commented. Who doesn't love this kind of shopping experience?
"We have always been committed to providing stylish, innovative, high-quality products. ”
According to Fraser, senior vice president of Sam's Club, Sam's Club's success has not only been a unique membership system, but also a key role played by its own brand, Member's Mark (MM).
In order to provide members with more high-quality and low-cost products, Sam's has been planning its own brand MM since 1998. In 2022, we will increase our MM research and development efforts, and reformulate and refurbish more than 1,200 products.
The MM R&D team has always maintained its original intention, looked for expansion opportunities, identified member preferences and consumption details through big data, and combined with years of accumulated retail experience and global resources, it strives for product excellence and continuous innovation.
All MM products are screened according to stricter criteria. For example, Sam's beef is transported in a -2°C-2°C cold chain throughout the process, and the cattle are raised with grains for no less than 100 days and slaughtered to ensure freshness and deliciousness.
Because of this, MM products are not only of better quality, but also significantly lower than similar national brand products, which has always been favored and respected by consumers, which has also become an important reason for consumers to join and renew Sam's Club.
"I don't remember how many times I bought mochi and egg yolk crisp, and since I discovered the treasure brand of MM, shopping is too worry-free. Miss Zhou, who has been in the club for 8 years, has long become a fan of MM.
In 2023, MM goods have achieved significant growth in all categories, among which food and consumer goods are particularly prominent, and clothing and furniture have also performed well. Newly developed sports drinks, home meals such as potato chips in mixed packages, freeze-dried strawberries, etc., are also popular.
In addition, MM is also integrating sustainability into its decision-making, with plans to make all product packaging recyclable and reusable within two years, with an impact that will touch all aspects of members' lives.
"Improving the quality of life of our members has always been our goal. ”
According to Fraser, the team has been committed to creating a healthier lifestyle for members, even if it is a high-end market field that has not been set foot in, as long as it is valuable to members, MM is willing to try and actively explore.
Against the backdrop of the global pandemic and the sharp decline in the retail market, Sam's contrarian growth is even more precious. In 2023, Sam's Club was named Global Retailer of the Year by Store Brands.
"Before COVID, our operations in China were unbelievably good. ”
At Sam's performance briefing, Wal-Mart CEO Dong Minglun said proudly.
According to the latest financial report, Sam's Club's revenue in the first three quarters of 2024 was nearly $22 billion, a year-on-year increase of 2.8%.
Sam's Club's brilliance in the Chinese market has ushered in a large number of replicas and imitations from merchants, which seem to be no secrets, but they are impossible to copy.
"There is no way out for homogeneous low-price competition. So said an industry expert.
When his peers plunged headlong into low-priced involutions in an effort to please every customer, Sam had already gone the other way.
The first is to take the initiative to screen customers.
With an annual membership fee of 260 yuan, most of the members screened out are middle-class people, married people and car owners, who have certain economic strength and have higher requirements for product quality, but are often insensitive to price.
This kind of customer has a high level of education, strong purchasing power, is easy to accept new ideas, and is willing to try new things, and the collection of high-quality products from all over the world can just meet them. Relying on these stable member groups, Sam's management is more planned and more scientific.
Second, supply determines demand.
Unlike traditional large-scale supermarkets, which put tens of thousands of products on the shelves at every turn to please all consumers, Sam's Club only retains more than 4,000 products. Because of the precision of customers, Sam understands their needs and can meet and guide their consumption.
The advantages of this are all too obvious, not only to significantly reduce the cost of operational decision-making, but also to reduce the cost of centralized procurement. The lack of competitors in the "novelty" of "novelty" goods that lead consumption means higher profits.
The third is to optimize the core portfolio.
Continuously improve the quality and price of the products preferred by members, and bring forth new ones, so as to increase the repurchase rate. At the same time, it adopts super-large packaging, which is inexpensive and convenient for stockpiling. This is also the fundamental reason why Sam's sales have increased instead of declining during the epidemic.
With its oversized packaging, Sam's has accurately selected affluent middle-class people with spacious homes, private cars, and double-door refrigerators. From now on, there is no need to think about who sells eggs cheaper than your peers, as long as you make sure that the steak and other products are the lowest price.
The fourth is to provide emotional value.
Relying on Wal-Mart's global centralized procurement advantages, you can buy things that cannot be bought elsewhere at Sam's, especially new and exotic products from all over the world.
Free on-site tasting of Chinese and Western delicacies will delight customers, and a video game experience area for children will turn shopping into a parent-child activity in seconds.
In addition, professional health services, free home delivery, points exchange activities and other humanized services make members feel a full sense of dignity.
As a result, all kinds of short videos showing off shopping and Xiaomeiwen spread in the circle of friends and social media, and gradually promoted the reputation of Sam's Club.
Because of this, the number of Sam's members has shown a blowout growth, and the 80% renewal rate has also set a myth in the industry, and the membership fee alone has collected more than 1 billion yuan a year.
Sam's market effect has not only changed the business landscape of Chinese mainland, but also impacted Hong Kong, which is across the river from Shenzhen.
Sam's Club in Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou is full of Hong Kong people, many of whom are celebrities, most of whom have come to the mainland to shop for Taobao.
"Now the world is the opposite, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is full of Sam's shopping carts. ”
Hong Kong is known as a "shopping paradise", and in the past, mainland tourists used to shop with large bags and small bags, but now it is the opposite. According to the statistics of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Border Inspection Station, the number of vehicles and passengers entering and leaving the country in the week before Christmas in 2023 has set a record high.
Hong Kong's enthusiasm for Sam has given rise to many new industries.
Sam's purchasing has become the hottest side business, and the 20% purchasing service fee has not scared Hong Kong people's shopping enthusiasm.
Hong Kong travel agencies have launched "Sam's Club tours" that are extremely popular, and Hong Kong bus companies have also opened a number of Hong Kong-Shenzhen through trains to seize the individual passenger market, but Hong Kong citizens say that these are far from enough.
Having a Sam's Club card is not only about quality of life, but also a status symbol.
Whether it is Sam's Global or MM's own brand, the products are selected from all over the world, representing a high-quality life in sync with the world, which is the value of life pursued by the middle class.
In order to reflect the identity and taste, it is not surprising to borrow someone else's membership card to visit Sam's once in a while. It is understandable to send a circle of friends or a little red book to satisfy a little vanity. At least at that moment, it can prove that "I have taste and I have money".
Is the membership fee of 260 yuan a year worth it?
It depends on what you think, after all, these days, there are many things that you are willing to fight and suffer.
-END-
Resources:
Beiqing.com: The woman was rejected for checkout with her husband's membership card, and the store responded
DataVision: Why all supermarkets want to be Sam's
Business School: Sam with double-digit growth, just because it's cheap?
Mantou business: Hong Kong people, go north to Sam's to buy and buy
Yangtze River Daily: "Sam" Wuhan third store, Luozi this district!
I Love Private Labels: Sam's Club: Secret to the success of the 2023 Retail Superstar
Smart new connections: supermarkets continue to close, and Sam's pays membership fees in a sea of people
Sam's Club website
Author: Maizi
Editor: Willow Leaf chatter