Dive Brief:

• Sam's Club is deploying curbside pickup service to all of its 597 locations in the United States, the Walmart-owned membership warehouse chain announced in a press release. The company expects the rollout to be complete by the end of June.
• The company is primarily aiming the curbside pickup service at Plus-level members, who pay $100 per year for shopping privileges and will be able to use the pickup option without paying extra.
• Sam's Club said it will temporarily offer the service to members who pay a lower membership fee, but did not say when that period would end. “While free curbside pickup is a new Plus member benefit, we recognize all of our members are looking for contact-free shopping options as part of the current environment,” Lance de la Rosa, the company's chief operating officer, said in a statement.

Dive Insight:

Sam's Club is bringing curbside pickup service to all of its locations at a time when retailers are racing to offer ways for people to efficiently purchase groceries and other products without having to enter stores.

The company, which tested the service at 16 locations before deciding to expand it nationwide, joins a growing list of retailers that have expanded their e-commerce services.

In May, Aldi, which offers delivery service at all of its 1,900 U.S. stores, announced that it would offer curbside pickup service at 600 stores in 35 states by the end of July following a pilot program in a handful of markets. C&S Wholesale Grocers recently inked a deal with Instacart to offer e-commerce services to the more than 3,000 independent operators it works with. Bi-Lo is working with Instacart as well to bring grocery delivery services to its more than 70 stores in three Southeastern states.

In May, Target resumed the introduction of a pilot initiative that allows customers to purchase fresh and frozen groceries through its Drive Up curbside pickup program. The company offers curbside pickup service at almost all of the 1,850 stores.

Notably, Sam's Club's chief rival, Costco, does not offer curbside pickup service, although it does allow customers to place orders to pick up in person inside its stores.

In addition to its expanding curbside pickup service, Sam's Club, like other retailers, offers customers who visit its locations the ability to pay for purchases on their phone and avoid having to wait in line at a checkout counter. The company said recently that the number of new customers opting to use its Scan & Go app has increased fourfold since the start of the pandemic.