Walmart's Sam's Club makes bold move to steal Costco customers

Considering Walmart's (WMT) domination in the retail space, it's probably reasonable to expect that Sam's Club, its membership warehouse offering, would be able to compete with Costco (COST) .

However, that's not actually the case. As of Q1 2025, Costco held 77.7% of the market share for the warehouse club industry, per data from CSIMarket.

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Part of Costco's advantage may be that it was first to the game. It began in 1976 as Price Club, eventually opening the first Costco in 1983 and then merging the two businesses.

Walmart was quick to follow once Costco launched, also starting Sam's Club in 1983. But Costco's experience with Price Club gave it eight additional years of opportunity to experiment and innovate, which may be a contributing factor to the company's success.

Because of the significant gap between the two, Sam's Club is constantly under pressure to find ways to compete with Costco and potentially spirit its customers away.

One key way it does that is by undercutting Costco on membership price and running annual specials that make a membership very affordable. Sam's Club's current promotion, which runs through June 30, allows new customers to join for $30.

Now Sam's is trying something new by taking aim at Costco's famously affordable food court — and it just might make a dent in the warehouse giant's sales.

Sam's Club wants you to know it means business when it comes to undercutting the competition.

Image source: Beth Hall/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Sam's Club has a deal that Costco doesn't

In May, Sam's Club decided to launch an unusual service: pizza delivery.

Much like Costco, Sam's Club has a food court that serves inexpensive eats like hot dogs, pizza, pretzels, yogurt, and drinks.

A new service the retailer added in May allows members to use the Sam's Club app to order a Members Mark 16-inch pizza and schedule a delivery window or pay a few extra dollars for express service.

For Plus members, delivery is free when they place an order over $50, while Club members pay $12.

The pizza itself retails for $8.98, and customers can choose from pepperoni, cheese and four-meat options. Costco charges $9.99 for a pizza of the same size.

After a month, Sam's Club says that the new service is a grand success.

“Since launching pizza delivery in late May, we’ve been encouraged by the strong response from members,” said a Sam's Club statement to FOX Business.

“Early performance has exceeded expectations, with robust demand, high repeat order rates, and enthusiastic feedback from members seeking affordable, high-quality meals delivered hot and fresh,” it said.

Sam's Club makes a clever move in an uncertain economy

Sam's Club is not only making a move to undercut Costco's pizza prices, but also taking aim at pizza delivery shops in general, where pies have become more expensive in recent years.

For example, a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's is $17.49, while the same pizza from Papa John's is $18.53 including delivery fees.

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In an economy where people are pulling back on unnecessary spending and looking for the best deal possible to feed their families, Sam's has a clear advantage here — and you don't even have to go to the store to get it.

Costco does offer its own large pizza deal, as mentioned above, but it does not offer any kind of delivery. Instacart can get it for you if you are ordering other things using that service, but naturally that comes with an additional fee, defeating the purpose of getting the cheap pizza deal in the first place.

While this move may not rake market share away from Costco by the fistful, it is a small way through which Sam's Club stands to gain — and a lot of small moves, when added up, can make quite an impact.