Sales are up at club stores around the country. In the twelve weeks ending November 22, Costco reported that net sales were up 17 percent over the same period in 2019, while BJ’s Wholesale Club’s comparable store sales increased by 18.5 percent in the third quarter. Sales at Sam’s Club were strong, though decreased through the year. The company reported in July that its second quarter comparable sales had climbed by 13 percent, though this dropped to 0.9 percent for the fourth quarter.
Michael Sansolo, a retail specialist and president of Sansolo Solutions in Potomac, Maryland, didn’t expect to see such large numbers, mostly because he believes business-to-business sales have dropped off in club stores, as mom and pop restaurants and other operations have gone out of business. But the growth in consumers eating significantly more at home has probably more than filled that gap, he says.
He’d also thought it likely that shoppers would prefer not to shop club channels because they might not find everything they’d need. But the desire for stocking up and panic shopping appears to have won them over, he says.
Amanda Lai, manager with McMillanDoolittle, a Chicago-based retail consultancy, says that beyond stockpiling essentials, “club stores have also benefited from shifts in consumer spending away from travel and dining, towards consumer goods. Club stores have a strong presence in the furniture, cookware, fitness, home improvement, and lawn and garden categories, all of which have spiked in growth as customers have stayed at home.”
What’s also helped sales increase, says Sansolo, is that club chains pivoted quickly to online ordering and delivery, to meet strong customer demand. And the numbers prove this. Costco’s e-commerce business grew 50 percent in fiscal 2020, and at Sam’s Club those numbers increased by 33 percent.
Sam’s Club in particular has done well, says Lai. It began offering curbside pickup service to all members at the beginning of the pandemic, although the service was originally intended for its Plus membership tier. It also rolled out a “shop from your car” concierge service through which employees shop for at-risk customers.
Both Sansolo and Lai believe that sales will continue to grow.
“We can expect e-commerce to continue to be an area of growth for club retailers in 2021,” Lai points out. “However, brick-and-mortar shopping will remain the core source of growth … it’s in the retailers’ best interest to drive traffic to physical stores to cover the cost of their investment.”
Image: Sam’s Club
