Walmart’s Sam’s Club Cracks China Market Formula Even as Foreign Retailers Shut Shop
•February 17, 2026
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Companies Mentioned
Why It Matters
Sam’s Club’s tailored strategy proves that localisation can revive foreign retail in China, offering a blueprint for other entrants amid a competitive, fast‑evolving market.
Key Takeaways
- •Localized product mix drives Sam’s Club foot traffic.
- •Store count reached 63, adding ten in 2025.
- •Smaller cities become growth engine for Walmart-owned club.
- •Private-label sizes adjusted for Chinese household constraints.
- •Double‑digit transaction growth outpaces Walmart’s hypermarket decline.
Pulse Analysis
Sam’s Club’s success in China underscores the power of hyper‑localisation in a market where foreign retailers often falter. By swapping generic American assortments for culturally resonant items—think Lunar New Year ginseng and copper‑gourd décor—the club has tapped into the rising middle‑class appetite for quality, culturally relevant goods. Adjusting private‑label packaging to fit smaller Chinese households further demonstrates an acute understanding of local consumption patterns, reducing waste and aligning with limited storage spaces.
The expansion strategy also reflects a geographic pivot. After decades of slow growth, Sam’s Club accelerated store openings, adding ten locations in 2025 and targeting second‑ and third‑tier cities where disposable income is rising and competition is less intense. This contrasts sharply with Costco’s capital‑heavy, land‑purchase model that limits its footprint to a handful of flagship stores. By leveraging existing Walmart logistics and focusing on underserved regions, Sam’s Club builds a scalable network that can sustain long‑term sales momentum.
However, rapid growth brings operational risks. Recent food‑safety incidents have prompted Walmart China to raise its quality‑control budget by 35%, highlighting the delicate balance between expansion and supply‑chain integrity. As the broader Chinese retail landscape sees hypermarkets shrink, Sam’s Club’s membership model—centered on curated selection and quality assurance—offers a defensible competitive edge. For investors and global retailers, the case illustrates that nuanced localisation, agile store deployment, and rigorous quality oversight are essential to thriving in China’s dynamic consumer environment.
Walmart’s Sam’s Club cracks China market formula even as foreign retailers shut shop
Sam’s Club expands in China by strengthening localisation and launching more China‑tailored products
US warehouse retailer Sam’s Club has gained traction among Chinese shoppers by strengthening localisation and launching more China‑tailored products, continuing to expand even as many foreign retailers have scaled back their mainland operations or exited the market.
Instead of replicating its US model, Walmart‑owned Sam’s Club has introduced products catering to local tastes, including copper‑gourd ornaments, ginseng and some traditional food items in the days leading up to the Lunar New Year holiday. Its stores have seen robust foot traffic, with some gift‑box varieties such as nuts selling out.
Sam’s Club has also adjusted the packaging size of many Member’s Mark private‑label products. For example, its roughly 1 kg American‑style steak has been reduced to between 450 g and 800 g to suit the living and storage conditions of Chinese households.
“Sam’s Club has managed to expand in China, largely because it has tapped into the rising demand for quality consumption among middle‑class households,” said Fu Yifu, a special researcher at Su Merchants Bank in Nanjing, eastern Jiangsu province.
Shoppers at Sam’s Club in Kunshan, Jiangsu province on February 7. Photo: Weibo
“Its localisation strategy has been tailored to Chinese consumers’ preferences, creating a competitive edge, while its instant delivery service addresses the pain point of bulk buying for immediate use.”
China’s average household size was 2.51 people in 2024, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The warehouse retailer opened 10 new stores on the mainland in 2025, bringing its total to 63 nationwide at the end of last year.
Sam’s Club’s US rival Costco entered the Chinese market in 2019 and currently operates seven mainland stores, all concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta and Shenzhen, with no presence in Beijing. A recent boom in cross‑border shopping by Hong Kong residents travelling north has boosted sales at its Shenzhen store, according to Costco.
“Costco adheres to a model of buying land and building its own stores,” said Tan Xinyi, an analyst at Shanghai‑based LeadLeo Research Institute. “Given high upfront investment and long opening cycles, it operates a small number of highly concentrated stores, leading to slower overall expansion.”
Sam’s Club opened its first mainland store in Shenzhen in 1996 and expanded slowly for about 20 years. It opened an average of four stores annually from 2016 to 2023 and six in 2024. Now, with first‑tier cities approaching saturation, it is accelerating store openings in smaller cities. Late last year, it opened outlets in Zhangjiagang and Yangzhou in Jiangsu province.
“Steady income growth and growing hometown‑return trends have boosted lower‑tier market expansion,” Tan said. “With strong consumption and per‑capita spending potential, these markets have become a solid foundation for Sam’s Club’s growth.”
Last year, the country’s total retail sales hit 50.1 trillion yuan (US$7.3 trillion), rising 3.7 percent year on year, according to the NBS.
Walmart’s overall sales in China rose nearly 22 percent year on year to US$6.1 billion in its third quarter ended October 31, outpacing the average growth of 10.8 percent in its international business segment. Sam’s Club achieved double‑digit transaction‑volume growth in China, according to its earnings report.
Competition in the mainland market is intense. Walmart’s traditional hypermarket business continues to contract, with its store count falling to 283 in financial year 2025 from 412 in 2020. The group also faces competition from local Chinese chains including Freshippo, Yonghui Superstores and Pangdonglai.
“The warehouse membership model’s core competitive advantages lie in quality control and product selection,” Fu said. “Rapid expansion can easily disrupt supply‑chain management and trigger quality issues.”
Over the past year, Sam’s Club has been hit by a series of food‑safety incidents. At Walmart’s 2025 investor conference in April, Walmart China CEO Zhu Xiaojing said the company would increase its annual quality‑control budget by 35 percent.
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