5 Reasons Costco Is More Popular Than Sam's Club

While Sam's Club is more bashful about sharing its precise membership numbers, we know that Costco has millions more. That raises the question of why. What about Costco makes it more popular than Sam's Club? Is it simply a matter of where clubs are located or is something else drawing more shoppers to Costco? 

1. Costco employees are more satisfied

Costco employees earn more on average and are more satisfied with their jobs, according to the job search site Glassdoor. For example: 

• While it may have something to do with Costco employees having more money to put in the bank each month, they gave their employer a rating of 4 out of 5. On the other hand, Sam's Club employees rated their employer 3.3 out of 5.
• A whopping 84% of Costco employees approve of their CEO, compared to 61% of Sam's Club employees who approve of theirs. 
• Seventy-six percent of Costco employees say they would recommend a job at Costco to a friend, while 54% of Sam's Club employees said they would recommend a job at Sam's Club to a friend. 

Whether employees are satisfied makes a difference. A miserable employee is less likely to go out of their way to make a customer happy. That's not to say that every Costco or Sam's Club employee is always happy or unhappy. That's not realistic. However, when 23% more of a company's employees claim to like their job, there's bound to be an impact on customer service. 

2. Costco members claim to be more satisfied with their memberships

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a measurement of customer experience. Ranking a company on a scale of -100 to 100, NPS calculates how many customers speak positively about a company and how many speak negatively. The more likely a customer is to recommend a company to others, the higher the score. 

• Costco has an NPS score of 57
• Sam's Club has an NPS score of -9

3. The Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi beats the Sam's Club Mastercard

Granted, this one was a close call. Both credit cards offer some sweet perks. What inches Costco into the lead is that the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi does not limit how much members can earn back in rewards. The Sam's Club Mastercard has a $5,000 reward max per year. 

4. Kirkland, Kirkland, Kirkland

You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who prefers Sam's Club Member's Mark over Costco's Kirkland Signature. Kirkland Signature products have a solid reputation, and for good reason. Kirkland allows shoppers to pick up high-quality products at a low price. Because Sam's Club is owned by Walmart, a company rarely praised for its high quality, it's easy to assume all Member's Mark products are "meh." 

5. Costco's return policies

In truth, both companies have excellent return policies -- far more generous than many retailers. Where Costco gets the edge is in its shorter list of non-returnable items. Imagine lugging a large purchase back to the store, only to find out it's on the non-returnable list. 

The thing about declaring one warehouse chain superior to another is that plenty of people see it differently. For every person who swears Costco's food court is better, there's someone who can't imagine walking out of Sam's Club on a Saturday morning without a warm pretzel or delicious churro. 

Perhaps the good news is this: As long as Costco and Sam's Club keep upping their games to lure new customers, we all win.