Why Sam’s Club and Other Stores use Membership Cards

Sam’s Club stores use plastic membership cards that look and act in some ways like a credit or debit card to identify members. There are several reasons why membership cards are used for these private membership cards. At first glance, it would seem the idea of the private membership store was an idea that flies in the face of conventional retail logic. Most retail locations are obsessed with trying to attract customers to shop with them rather than with a competitor.

The truth is that the private membership store is just as interested in attracting customers as other retail stores and our using the membership concept to accomplish just that. The idea is to create an idea in the customer’s mind that such good bargains are to be found at the store that only a special and select group of consumers are going to be allowed to take advantage of them. This subtle psychological approach is telling the customer that he is going to be excluded from these advantages and bargains unless he has a membership. The plastic card is the tangible proof that the customer is going to be included and not left out. In the case of Sam’s Club, even the use of the name club creates this idea that you are either included in the club or excluded from it.

The plastic cards have another even more important and practical advantage. The vast increase in the use of tracking software in the retail industry allows stores to gather data on the shopping habits of their customers. When the card is scanned during the checkout process at the retail location, data concerning the items purchased can be entered into a data file. This file gives the retailer a detailed picture of the types of purchases made by each customer. This information in turn can be used to direct specific advertising campaigns toward the customers that are the most likely to be receptive.

Plastic card printing is an expense and it is fairly certain the retail locations that use them are getting their money’s worth from this investment. It may be in the creating of the Club idea which lets the customer feel he is on the inside and will reap benefits denied to others, or it may be in the data tracking possibilities. In either case, the plastic card that indicates membership or allows access to special discounts has gradually become more and more popular as it takes its place beside credit and debit cards in our crowded wallets.