Orion’s Popularity Causes Uproar Among Sam’s Club Members

The latest buzz online is all about food, and while juicy family drama is grabbing headlines, another story has been trending for days: Sam’s Club’s evolving product selection. It seems another brand has “fallen” in the eyes of some shoppers.

The situation is simple: online users noticed Sam’s Club shelves now include familiar, mass-market brands like Orion Pies, Weilong Konjac Snacks, and Liuliumei dried plums.

This sparked outrage among some members who view Sam’s Club as a purveyor of premium, often international, goods. The sentiment? “Why pay for a membership if I can find these brands at my local corner store?”

Many members are questioning the value proposition: “I pay hundreds for a membership, and this is what I get?”

Media outlets chimed in, with headlines questioning Sam’s Club’s strategy for member retention, suggesting they’re losing their differentiation, and therefore, their members.

It seems Sam’s Club is facing a PR crisis, with everyone, members or not, eager to voice their displeasure.

While jumping on the bandwagon might be tempting, it’s important to approach the situation rationally. Is calling for Sam’s Club’s expulsion from China an overreaction?

Some customers feel that Sam’s Club is betraying its core mission with these product choices.

One Weibo user commented, “I pay for a Sam’s Club membership specifically to buy their high-end, exclusive products. I’m shopping at Sam’s Club, not some generic store!”

These readily available brands seem to erode the perceived exclusivity, causing some members distress.

In essence, some members feel Sam’s Club no longer provides the aspirational shopping experience they seek.

But are these “mass-market brands” on Sam’s Club shelves genuinely the same as those found in a neighborhood convenience store?

Take Orion Pies, for example. While the price per pie and the taste might be familiar, the ingredients are subtly different.

Sam’s Club’s version boasts reduced sugar content and uses 30% real cocoa, instead of cocoa butter substitutes. Similarly, Sam’s Club’s Liuliumei plums highlight their origin and are exclusive products manufactured specifically for Sam’s Club.

While the brand name on the shelf might be the same as what you find at the corner store, the actual product isn’t. It’s a Sam’s Club exclusive.

Even though these products are manufactured in Chinese factories, does that automatically disqualify them from a “premium” retailer? Imagine Sam’s Club selling a premium, additive-free version of Wahaha AD Calcium Milk. Would that warrant its removal?

The core question: Do high-quality domestic products, lacking the “foreign brand” cachet, deserve a place in high-end supermarkets?

For Sam’s Club, this debate centered around a perceived lack of prestige feels somewhat misguided.

According to an industry insider (pseudonym: Kunlong) with long-term cooperation with Sam’s Club’s supply chain, the controversial Orion Pies actually ranked third in sales among new products and boasted a very high approval rating.

Sam’s Club’s utilization of domestic food manufacturers is nothing new. Only three-tenths success of the product rely on product selection while the remaining seven-tenths rely on supply chain management.

In contrast to Costco’s rigidity, Sam’s Club’s proactive embrace of local supply chains and implementation of stringent entry standards enable members to enjoy high-quality, affordable products.

Demanding that Sam’s Club abandon its leading Chinese supply chain and food production capabilities in favor of catering to a small segment’s desire for emotional validation is unrealistic.

This vital supply chain operates with incredibly high standards.

Kunlong explains that simply having a good product isn’t enough to get into Sam’s Club; a patent is often a prerequisite.

Supply chain stability is also crucial. Sam’s Club has a strict rule: a fulfillment rate below 95% results in immediate expulsion. Some suppliers are forced to sign contracts with three different logistics companies simultaneously. One manufacturer was permanently blacklisted for a two-day stock shortage due to local flooding.

The factory audit process is notoriously rigorous, meticulously checking even the height of fly zappers. Third-party surprise inspections are frequent. One factory spent millions upgrading its facility, only to be rejected because a single page was missing from their pest control log.

According to Kunlong, Sam’s Club’s success lies not in its membership model, but in its ability to define what products are worthy of membership. And such quality doesn’t require an “imported” label.

Sam’s Club, in many ways, has objectively “de-mystified” imported products. Through its extremely rigorous standards, it has unearthed and driven the upgrade of numerous excellent domestic supply chain manufacturers.

Those who feel that Orion Pies, Liuliumei, and Weilong snacks are insufficiently “prestige” are inadvertently discrediting the efforts of these domestic manufacturers.

While some of these domestic brands might appear similar to their mass-market counterparts, as influencer Banfo Xianren pointed out, even products from the same platform can be vastly different. Wu Song and Wu Dalang were both on the same platform (the Water Margin story), but were completely different characters. Perhaps Sam’s Club should add a prominent Sam’s Club logo to its special items, so that its customer has a “prestige” to show.

That said, this isn’t about defending Sam’s Club or claiming it’s flawless.

On the contrary, Sam’s Club faces numerous issues due to its rapid expansion.

To be clear, I’m not defending them uncritically and receiving financial compensation from Sam’s Club. I am a Sam’s club customer and pay for the membership. While the criticisms over product selection seem misplaced, other criticisms are certainly warranted.

Since last year, when a supply chain-focused executive became CEO, the previous emphasis on “members first” has been replaced by cost reduction, efficiency, and scale.

Although Sam’s Club has 5 million members in China, growth has slowed compared to previous years, leading to a greater focus on maximizing existing membership.

This has spurred a frenzy of new store openings, from 46 at the beginning of the year to 54 now, with plans to reach 60 by year-end, even expanding to wealthy county-level cities like Kunshan and Jinjiang.

This drive to lower costs and boost performance has resulted in a decline in Sam’s Club’s in-house brand offerings, dropping from 30% to 18%, further increasing reliance on domestic supply chains.

The paradox: While maintaining extremely stringent requirements for upstream suppliers, product quality within stores has become increasingly inconsistent.

A quick search on Weibo reveals numerous complaints about moldy cakes, live insects in nuts, insect eggs in cakes, and milk cartons with attached insect eggs. Even the prevalence of Sam’s Club scalpers has fueled negative sentiment. Black Cat Complaints lists over 10,000 complaints against Sam’s Club.

These issues are a consequence of Sam’s Club’s rapid expansion and require immediate attention.

Ultimately, a foreign brand profiting from Chinese consumers with a membership model promising superior service should be held accountable.

The criticism is valid.

However, it’s essential to understand what the criticism should be and why. Complaints about poor store management, insects in fruit, and discriminatory pricing are all justified.

But if discontent with Sam’s Club leads to unfairly targeting the domestic brands that have successfully navigated the grueling supply chain approval process, dismissing progress made by Chinese companies, perpetuating the outdated belief that Chinese products are inferior to imported goods, and ultimately undermining the hard-earned “premium selected” model and consumer trust, that would be a true tragedy.

That is a much more serious consequence than the failure of a single supermarket chain.