Anyone who’s gone to the supermarket recently will tell you: it’s a jungle in there.
Between all the recent food and beverage trends that have taken over the aisles, seemingly countless new ways to purchase your items, and the rising cost of groceries, it’s pretty challenging to make sense of what used to be a routine trip to the store.
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Take, for example, all the new types of foods the average consumer now encounters.
It can be tough enough to make sense of labels; many of us also have difficulty distinguishing what’s healthy from what is simply marketing.
Oat cereal, for example, may not be as heart healthy as a cut of organic, grass-fed steak. But only one of these products has that little red check mark we’ve been conditioned to look for.
It’s even harder to tell what’s really meat and what’s plant-based, but intended to look like meat.
Such is the case for many items purporting to either be healthy, palatable, or affordable.
The truth is, very little about the grocery store is that simple nowadays.
Sam’s Club is trying to entice more members.
Image source: slobo/Getty Images
Grocery shopping is getting complicated
Many of these dilemmas are common among traditional grocery stores.
But some things get even more complicated once you enter a members-only grocery warehouse, like a Costco (COST) or Walmart-owned Sam’s Club (WMT) .
It’s true that these retailers offer many more straightforward products; their popular private label brands are often hailed as some of the highest-quality and affordable offerings available to consumers.
More Walmart:
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But simple processes like checking out and paying can be more of an obstacle.
Sam’s Club, for instance, is trying to get its members to move over to its app almost exclusively. It recently announced it would do away with traditional checkouts and instead prompt customers to scan and pay for everything on the mobile app.
Sam’s Club makes a major membership change
If the mobile change wasn’t enough, Sam’s Club is making another shift that may make potential customers happy.
The massive retailer announced that for a limited time, it will slash its membership fee.
New Sam’s Club customers can join the warehouse for just $20 for the first year. Typically, the cost to belong to Sam’s Club is $50, making this a 60% discount.
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Membership to Sam’s Club includes the following perks:
Low prices on groceries, electronics, and household goodsSam’s Club gas stations discountsFree same-day delivery for certain itemsCash back benefits when using the Sam’s Club credit cardVehicle servicesHousehold membership sharing
For comparison, the annual cost for a Costco membership starts at $65, and the Washington-based warehouse grocer is not running a similar promotion.
The sale, however, is limited. New customers can only access the deal through the end of the first week of May.
