On May 28th, Nanjing's first Costco opened its doors to welcome customers. It has only been three days since Sam's Nanjing Jiangbei store opened.
Member Wang Mian made an early reservation for the first batch of admission slots. He told Time Finance, "Recently, you can see a lot of advertisements from market opening customers, and they feel novel and excited before opening."
However, the opening customer did not give him too many surprises. "The opening customer did not have many competitive products, although Tommy Hilfiger," International brands such as Burberry and CK offer discounts, but they are not very attractive to me. After the popularity of the opening decreases, observe and finally decide whether to cancel the card Wang Mian is also a member of Sam, and he has made multiple purchases at Sam.
In fact, Sam and the opening customer have always appeared as competitors, and there is a certain difference in their target customer positioning. Sam has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for many years and has advantages in localization and creating popular online products. After opening, its large yellow hawthorn hugging bucket and Disney co branded Woody bag became the new "social currency"; Market opening customers have more international brands.
As the overlap between opening customers and Sam in site selection increases, they are also facing more stringent evaluations and choices from consumers.
Selling gold and competing for membership with Herm è s
Two member store brands with similar opening times are competing in various aspects such as hardware and products.
In terms of hardware, the Kaishike Nanjing store is equipped with a three story large parking lot, totaling over 1000 parking spaces. It has also opened its first member gas station in China, restoring the "refueling+shopping" model of authentic American style Kaishike, while the Samjiang North store is also equipped with 1000 parking spaces.
Zhang Shuyun, General Manager of Chinese Mainland, said in an interview with media groups that, globally, gas stations have always been an important member service facility for market opening customers. Market opening customers hope to start from the Nanjing membership store, and in the future, new stores in China will strive towards this direction, bringing the "refueling+shopping" opening customer experience to more places.
In addition, in addition to offering first-time card discounts, Sam and the opening customers also offer a variety of promotional items such as gold jewelry and Herm è s to cater to consumer preferences during the opening. Among them, the opening customer's foot gold bar is 57499.90 yuan/100g, which is lower than the market price; Sam also sells Chow Tai Fook and its own brand of gold. The price of Chow Tai Fook gold is the same as that of stores, but workers can enjoy a 20% discount on labor costs with Sam's membership card.
Before the opening, the opening customers attracted a lot of attention with Herm è s bags that did not require distribution, with prices ranging from approximately 170000 yuan to 178000 yuan. A consumer revealed to Time Finance that when she arrived at the store around 8 o'clock in the morning, the bags were already sold out. "Originally, the store opened at 9 o'clock, but due to the large number of people queuing, the store opened earlier."
Time Finance learned from people close to the opening of the market that as of the opening, the number of membership cards issued by Nanjing Kaike had exceeded 100000. That is to say, based on the lowest membership price (299 yuan, opening discount of 199 yuan), the opening customers have already received at least 20 million yuan before opening. As of the week before the opening of the Shenzhen Longhua store, the number of card applications was over 90000.
Currently, competition between the two member stores is intensifying. At the beginning of the year, both sides had already engaged in close combat at Sam's headquarters in Shenzhen. In January this year, Kaishike opened its first store in South China in Longhua District, Shenzhen, less than 3 kilometers away from Sam's Club. At that time, some consumers told Time Finance that they might have felt pressure and Sam's products had a price reduction.
Market opening customers are also improving their shortcomings in online delivery. At present, the online shopping of "Kaishi Ke Dao Jia" has been launched in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Ningbo. Zhang Shuyun stated that the online shopping service for Nanjing Kaishike will be ready for launch 3-4 weeks after the official opening of the store. This year, the opening customers will further improve the commercial layout of online shopping.
The renewal rate is more critical
It is undeniable that in the early stages of opening, there will be a peak in the number of people applying for membership due to discounts, brand influence, and curiosity. But for member stores, the renewal rate is an important indicator of their healthy development.
According to a report by LatePost in September 2023, Sam's annual renewal rate in China has remained stable at over 60%, which is comparable to the renewal rate of opening customers in mainland China, while the global renewal rate of opening customers is over 90%.
After communicating with several Nanjing consumers, Time Finance found that many of them are dual membership holders of Sam and Kaike. Since their first shopping trip, members have been comparing the strengths and weaknesses of the two member stores and evaluating whether to renew their cards.
A consumer told Time Finance that compared to the first day of opening, Sam is more convenient. Firstly, the coverage area of the high-speed train is relatively wide; Secondly, the store has category labels that clearly indicate the placement of categories. The opening customers have classification labels for seafood, baking, fruits and vegetables, cooked food, and refrigeration, but not for other categories. In the crowded situation on the first day of opening, it caused inconvenience for her shopping. "But the opening customers have more discounts, and there are also some differences in the baking categories between the two companies, so they should both renew their own fees."
Another consumer told Time Finance that they had been shopping at Sam's before, and the reason why they applied for the opening customer membership was because they were closer to home; On the other hand, it is because there are very few opening customers in mainland China. On the first day of opening, she made two trips to Nanjing's opening customers. "Actually, there is not much difference in prices between the two sides, but the opening customers have many fresh products with more varieties and more international brands," she said.
It is worth mentioning that after the opening of the Nanjing store, the number of stores opened by customers in mainland China reached the 7th, while the number of Sam's China stores reached 48. According to the recruitment information released by Wal Mart this month, Sam will open new stores in Dongguan, Quanzhou, Wenzhou, Shaoxing, Wuhan and other cities next.
As the density of stores increases, the pressure on member stores to compete for middle-class families will undoubtedly gradually increase in the future.
(At the request of the interviewee, Wang Mian was used as a pseudonym in the text)