BJ's Wholesale Club Poised Well on Speed and Digital Convenience

BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings, Inc. BJ is accelerating its digital transformation to deepen member engagement and drive revenues. By expanding its omnichannel capabilities and integrating digital tools into the shopping experience, the company is enhancing convenience and reinforcing its value proposition. As consumer behavior shifts toward speed and personalization, BJ’s digitization efforts serve as the primary growth engine.

This shift is well reflected in the 30% year-over-year increase in digitally enabled comparable sales during the third quarter of fiscal 2025, contributing to impressive two-year stacked growth of 61%. This highlights how effectively the company’s technology investments — such as buy online, pick up in club, same-day delivery and ExpressPay — are successfully blending digital convenience with the physical in-club experience.

BJ’s Digital Fulfillment and Member Engagement

BJ’s unique fulfillment strategy remains a key differentiator for the company. More than 90% of digital orders are fulfilled directly through clubs, ensuring faster service and tighter operational control. This approach not only enhances efficiency but also deepens member engagement. Digitally active shoppers are more valuable than traditional in-club-only customers, driven by more frequent trips, higher spend and stronger renewal rates.

The BJ’s mobile app serves as a critical engagement tool, enabling members to clip digital coupons, locate products and preorder deli items. This high level of digital engagement directly supported a record membership fee income of $126.3 million for the third quarter, a 9.8% increase from the year-ago period. This reinforces the connection between digital adoption and high-margin recurring revenue streams.

BJ’s Record-Breaking Membership Growth

Membership remains the primary engine of BJ's growth. During the third quarter, the company maintained its milestone of 8 million members while continuing to improve the quality of its membership base. Higher-tier membership penetration reached a new record of 41%, up 50 basis points sequentially. Additionally, the company maintained a strong tenured renewal rate of 90%.

Final Words on BJ

Management views the integration of digital capabilities and physical footprint as vital to sustaining growth. The company opened one new club in the third quarter and remains on track to add seven more in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. With a target of opening 25 to 30 new clubs over the next two fiscal years, BJ’s is well-positioned to capture increasing demand for its hybrid retail experience.

Competitors Push the Digital Frontier: Costco & Walmart

Costco Wholesale Corporation COST continues to see robust growth in its digital channels, reporting a 20.5% increase in digitally-enabled comparable sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2026. This momentum is a key driver for Costco, as the company leverages its digital platforms to enhance the shopping experience for its growing member base. Membership loyalty remains a cornerstone for Costco, with membership income growing 14% during the same period, reflecting a strong worldwide membership renewal rate of 89.7%.

Walmart Inc. WMT has achieved a remarkable 27% global growth in e-commerce sales, with Walmart U.S. e-commerce sales up 28%. Walmart reported a 16.7% global increase in membership fee income, driven by the continued expansion of the Walmart+ program. Walmart also emphasized AI-driven personalization and a partnership enabling purchases via ChatGPT, reinforcing loyalty through a more frictionless digital journey.

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