A Sam’s Club customer said that they purchased a membership to the bulk retail store just to try one of its low-priced birthday cake sundaes.
Atlanta-based TikToker Jaybae (@okokjay) uploaded a video of her visiting a Sam’s Club store where she bought the sundae and showed it off on camera.
However, there were some commenters who said that she didn’t need to buy a membership in order to enjoy the offering.
In the clip, Jaybae records herself standing on a Sam’s Club food court line with several other customers who are waiting to put in their orders. She writes in a text overlay on the video: “I bought a Sam’s club membership just to get the birthday cake ice cream.”
The video then transitions to her showing off the dessert item currently being offered by the chain with another overlay that says: “and of course it was delicious and only $1.58.” She adds that the item is only offered for a limited time: “Run and try it before its gone.”
Eat This, Not That penned a piece about the new offering from Sam’s Club, which is currently being offered by the bulk retailer in celebration of its 40th anniversary. The outlet highlights that it costs nearly a dollar less than Costco’s ice cream sundae (which goes for $2.49), and said that it was a “fancier” offering as its “layered with pieces of iced birthday cake made fresh in the retailer’s bakery, and topped with brightly colored confetti sprinkles.”
And if birthday cake isn’t your jam, Sam’s Club also offers a brownie sundae for the same low price of $1.58. Costco’s low-cost food court has long been applauded by customers for maintaining an affordable selection of ready-to-eat meals regardless of food inflation, as has Sam’s Club’s. The two bulk retail chains have often been the topic of “showdowns” online, with folks comparing and contrasting their offerings. They offer a lot of the same menu items, like frozen yogurt, churros, pizza, and hot dogs.
CNBC also penned a piece highlighting Sam’s Club’s recent efforts to “compete with Costco” by attempting to “outdo its chief rival in terms of technology and private-label merchandise.”
According to Macrotrends, Costco is leaps and bounds ahead of Sam’s Club in terms of revenue: $226.95 billion compared to $73.6 billion.
According to The Daily Meal, Costco’s members skew younger than Sam’s Club’s: “the average Costco shopper is younger and tends to have a higher income than the average Sam’s Club shopper.”
The above-linked article goes on to attribute TikTok’s social media prevalence as a reason why Costco appears to resonate with younger people, highlighting several accounts and posts dedicated to the retailer, like @costcobuys. Which suggests that Sam’s Club may be able to also expand its consumer base if they’re able to enjoy a similar younger “cult” following on social media.
Part of the reason bulk retailers’ food court offerings are sold at such steep discounts is because they’re primarily designed to draw customers into its stores, and purportedly earn their profit margins on volume.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Jaybae via TikTok comment and Sam’s Club via email for further information.
Some TikTokers who viewed Jaybae’s post said that customers don’t even need to have a membership at Sam’s Club (or Costco for that matter) to eat at the food court: “Spoiler alert : You don’t need a Sam’s card to eat.” Another added: “I never needed a membership to eat there for lunch lol”
Jaybae replied that while she now knows customers don’t require a membership to eat at the food court, it’s too late because she already purchased one: “okkkk y’all ik you don’t need a membership now!!! it’s already bought”
Another commenter said that they had difficulty locating the birthday cake sundae at one Sam’s Club store they visited: “Just left and they told me they not doing it there (in Illinois)maybe Illtry a differ location tomorrow”