Do clubs have the capacity to compete long term with Amazon, etc.? In our opinion at HSA Consulting, yes, they do.
In fact, the club business has done quite well over the past five years. In spite of the headwinds from competitors, warehouse clubs have grown faster than overall U.S. retail sales. Apparently, consumers are happy to hold both a warehouse membership and a Prime membership.
In fact, our research confirms that they will hold both, but rarely two warehouse memberships. The food and beverage categories are doing even better, increasing annually at 4.7 percent per annum, reaching 13.3 percent U.S. share. Club share is increasing by 26 basis points each year. Factors such as SNAP reimbursement reductions, which have negatively affected the grocery industry, have had little effect on clubs.