Sam’s Club Dethrones Costco As America’s Top Wholesale Club Due To High-Tech Checkout

Sam’s Club has overtaken Costco as the nation’s top wholesale club for customer satisfaction.

Shoppers have praised Sam’s Club’s upgraded Scan & Go checkout system—Walmart’s take on the warehouse club experience. This feature allows members to scan and pay for their purchases via a mobile app, letting them skip the tills entirely.

Scan & Go: The Secret to Sam’s Club’s Success

One in three shoppers use this feature to avoid checkout queues altogether. Thanks to these enhancements, Sam’s Club achieved the highest score in the annual American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), earning 85 out of 100—an impressive four-point increase.

This jump not only placed them ahead of longtime leader Costco—whose score stayed at 82—but also surpassed all other major retailers. ‘My hope is that Sam’s Club, when you shop, feels like what it’s like to shop in the future, this is a glimpse of that,’ Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas told Business Insder in October 2024. ‘That’s what I hope, and so that’s my job. This is a glimpse of that,’ he added.

How Technology Helped Sam’s Club Take The Lead

The ability to scan items while shopping and then skip the checkout lines is a big attraction for customers, according to the ACSI. ‘We’re seeing a clear divide emerge between brands that are meeting the needs and expectations of younger consumers versus those that are falling behind,’ ACSI director of research emeritus Forrest Morgeson told BI.

Morgeson suggested that digital tools like those at Sam’s Club are crucial for keeping younger shoppers happy. Sam’s Club also received positive feedback for fulfilling online orders accurately and promptly, especially for curbside pickup. Costco’s score held steady at 82, while BJ’s, which ranked third, dropped to 78.

Costco has explored integrating some technology into its operations, but its digital features don’t yet compare to what Sam’s Club offers. Costco recently implemented ID scanners to ensure only members shop at their locations. The company now offers online inventory checks for local warehouses so shoppers can see if a desired item is in stock at their nearest location.

Costco Doubles Down On DEI Policies

In the survey, 42,000 shoppers shared their experiences at these popular stores. Costco has recently been in the news for their firm stance in support of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The company and its shareholders recently voted to maintain their existing DEI policies.

At their annual meeting, shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a proposal from a conservative activist group that opposed Costco’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. This vote served as an initial indicator of investor sentiment regarding the value of corporate DEI programs, many of which companies implemented or expanded starting in 2020.

A top Costco executive cautioned that the retailer might have to increase prices this year if US President Donald Trump’s proposed tariff policies are enacted. ‘When it rains, it rains on everybody,’ Gary Millerchip, the discount warehouse club’s chief financial officer, told investors during an earnings call last month.

‘Of course, tariffs raise costs. That’s not something that we see as a positive in general,’ Millerchip said. The executive added that the potential impact of the proposed tariffs on the ‘timing and scope of changes’ at Costco remained uncertain.