It’s not so unusual for friends to copy and try to one-up each other, whether it’s adopting the same hairstyle, liking the same bands, or going after the same romantic partners.
Similarly, it’s fairly common for retailers to copy their competitors if it leads to more profits.
Such has been the case for Sam’s Club and Costco for a long time.
Even though Sam’s Club boasts almost 600 locations across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, as well as locations in China and Mexico, Costco has it beat.
Costco has more than 800 locations worldwide. And the company intends to keep growing.
But that doesn’t mean that Sam’s Club can’t try to catch up. And through the years, it’s taken different steps to try to do that.
Sam’s Club
Sam’s Club tries to win over Costco members
Even though Sam’s Club tends to live in Costco’s shadow, you’ve got to give the company credit for trying to match its biggest rival.
Sam’s Club has adopted a number of key strategies to take members away from Costco in recent years, including:
- Keeping its membership prices lower than Costco’s
- Offering curbside pickup, a service Costco refuses to offer
- Improving its Member’s Mark brand to compete with Costco’s very successful Kirkland Signature brand
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In fact, in 2024, Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas owned up to the fact that it was trying to follow Costco’s lead on product quality.
“The club model survives because you have brilliant merchants focusing on creating or buying exceptional items,” he told CNBC. “Costco did such a great job of that over the years with Kirkland and we saw that be successful.”
Sam’s Club copies Costco with new food court offering
One major benefit of shopping at both Sam’s Club and Costco is the food court.
At Costco, the iconic $1.50 hot dog and soda combo has long been hailed as one of the best meal deals in existence.
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Recently, Costco added a salted caramel brownie sundae to its food court lineup. It’s a soft-serve vanilla ice cream sundae topped with brownie bits and a generous amount of caramel sauce swirled throughout.
Costco members have been thrilled with the new dessert option, and Sam’s Club clearly took notice.
Now, Sam’s Club is offering a new food court sundae option of its own — the Jingle Cookie Crunch Sundae.
It features soft-serve vanilla ice cream that’s layered with chocolate cookie crumbles. It’s also topped with Member’s Mark Mini Candy Cookies, which are also available in the store’s bakery section.
And in another attempt to best Costco, Sam’s Club is offering its new seasonal sundae for an almost unbelievably low price of $1.58 throughout December. Costco’s newest sundae, by contrast, costs $2.99.
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And that’s not all.
Unlike Costco, which limits food court access to members only, many Sam’s Club food courts (called cafes) allow anyone to stop in for a quick bite. That could be Sam’s Club ticket to snagging more prospective members this holiday season — and closing in on Costco just a bit more.
In fact, one thing Sam’s Club does very well is rotate seasonal sundaes into its cafes all year around. It’s small steps like these that are crucial to attracting and retaining members, and Costco ought to take note.
Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.