When it comes to choosing a big box club, you have few options. Two giants that dominate the big box club market are Costco and Sam’s Club.

Recently, financial expert Clark Howard talked about how Sam’s Club is making customer-friendly changes.

Clark and I are members of both Costco and Sam’s Club, and in addition to implementing new checkout processes (more on that later), we decided to examine other areas where Sam’s Club excels over its competitor, Costco Wholesale.

This article was updated in August 2024 and I review it every 6 months. Detailed notes on all updates can be found here.

5 Reasons Why Sam’s Club Is Better Than Costco

membership

Both Costco and Sam’s Club offer several membership options, with Sam’s Club being slightly cheaper.

Costco offers two levels of annual membership: Gold Star for $60 and Executive for $120. With a Costco membership, you can take advantage of all the club’s offerings, such as the gas station, tire center, optical department, and more!

Effective September 1, 2024, Costco is increasing membership fees. For Gold Star, the price increases by $5 to $65 per year, and for Executive, the price increases by $10 to $130 per year.

Annual membership fees for Sam’s Club are $50 for the Club level and $110 for the Plus membership. A Sam’s Club membership also gives you access to all services like optical, tire center, and more! Sam’s offers early opening hours for its Plus members. My club in Medford, NY opens at 8 a.m. for Plus members and 10 a.m. for Club members. That’s another reason I love a Sam’s membership so much.

Scan and off you go

One of the things Clark loves most about Sam’s Club is the Scan and Go™ checkout option.

“Sam’s is way ahead of Costco because Sam’s has Scan and Go, where when you go shopping, you type in your own items on your own smartphone, pay with your smartphone, walk right out the door and now you go from store to store. Then you walk right back out without anyone checking your receipt because artificial intelligence with all the camera technology they have in the stores is able to verify that you paid.”

This feature is easy to use in three simple steps and makes Sam’s the most convenient of all big box stores.

First, you need to download the Sam’s Club app and log into your account.

The next step is to scan the barcode of the items you want to buy while shopping. Don’t worry if for some reason you have trouble scanning, there is an option to enter items manually. And if you want to put an item back, you can easily remove it.

The last step is to enter your credit card, move the slider to pay and head to the exit. You may see signs in your club directing you. In my store, it was the same exit. You will receive a digital receipt in the app.

Once you arrive at the exit, you will be greeted by an employee with a handheld scanner. They will scan your app and some random items in your cart for verification, and then you can walk out the door and continue on your way.

Leaving the club

Sam’s Club is increasing its efficiency even further by introducing AI technology to scan your shopping cart as you leave the store.

How will this work?

You use the same Sam’s Club app and navigate to the same Scan and Go™ area within the app. And that’s the cool thing about it: Instead of waiting for someone at the checkout to scan your app and random items, you can just walk out.

“If you roll this out store by store, you’ll walk right back out without anyone checking your receipt because artificial intelligence with all the camera technology that’s in stores will be able to verify that you paid for what’s in your stroller or in your basket or in your cart, whatever you call it, no matter what part of America you’re in.”

Why does Sam’s Club do this?

Sam’s Club listens to the wishes of its members and is convinced that these can be fulfilled with AI technology.

“This is Sam’s Club at its best. We listen to our members’ feedback and put their needs at the center of everything we do,” said President and CEO Chris Nicholas.

I spoke with a Sam’s Club media relations representative to find out when the feature would be rolled out to my store and was told that the feature is currently being piloted at 10 locations in the Dallas, Texas area and that it will be rolled out to all 600 clubs by the end of 2024.

Sam’s Club is the first retailer to use this type of technology in its stores. Costco has made things frustratingly difficult for its members by introducing new practices such as scanning the card to enter the club, verifying the picture on the membership card at the self-checkout, and even showing ID.

In a recent podcast episode, Clark was heard explaining the reasons behind these radical changes at Costco and the rationale behind Sam’s Club’s cheaper membership option.

“At Costco, most of their profits come from memberships. They try to break even by running the stores, and the money is made from memberships. Sam’s Club, on the other hand, charges a lower membership fee than Costco, and that’s not where they make all their money.”

Lines outside Costco are notoriously long because of the wait for a manual receipt check. This new technology at Sam’s Club is designed to make it easier to exit the store while keeping customers moving.

Accepted payment methods

When comparing Sam’s Club to Costco in terms of user-friendliness, Sam’s Club is the clear winner in terms of payment methods accepted.

This is because Sam’s Club accepts all four major credit card providers: American Express, MasterCard, Visa and Discover. The only credit card Costco accepts in its stores is Visa.

Of course, both stores accept debit cards, cash, gift cards, checks (members only at Costco) and EBT.

Looking for payment methods accepted online and at gas stations? Check out the full list from Sam’s Club and Costco.

Free Shipping

Until August 19, 2024, Sam’s Club gave its Plus members free shipping on most online items with no minimum purchase. Although there were some exceptions, it was a very generous policy and a huge benefit.

Free shipping and free club delivery are now available only to Plus members on qualified orders of $50 or more. While this requires a little more planning, it’s not a difficult minimum to achieve when buying in bulk.

Club level members can receive free curbside pickup on eligible items with a minimum purchase of $50.

Final thoughts

As companies evolve and listen to their customers’ opinions, Sam’s Club takes this to heart and offers numerous customer-friendly ways to shop and pay.

If you’re still not sure which big box store club to join, check out this comparison that provides an in-depth look at Costco and Sam’s Club memberships.

Article updates

• August 13, 2024: Updated Costco membership fee changes, Sam’s Club shipping changes, and updated links