An uphill battle with upgrade efforts

Sam’s Club is at it again this weekend. Attempting to persuade members to upgrade to the $100 Plus membership level by dangling the additional savings possible via the eValues program in front of them during a key seasonal sales occasion. The program is innovative and convenient in that money-saving offers are loaded directly onto members’ cards, but encouraging upgrade activity in the current economic climate is quite challenging, even when the immediate savings available via the eValues program more than offset the additional membership fee.

“If members take advantage of all our featured items, they could save $300 during the event being held in all Sam’s Club locations throughout the country,” said Mike Turner, Sam’s SVP membership.

The bulk of those savings are concentrated among three items including a $125 discount on an HP notebook or desktop computer, a $125 discount on a 40-inch Samsung television and a $30 discount on an Invicta brand ladies watch.

Savings on other items are more modest, such as $2 off an unspecified size package of ground beef, $2 off an apple pie, $1 off a watermelon, $2 off 36 rolls of Charmin or $2.50 off a 4-pack of Clorox wipes. The value of other discounts is more substantial, but then the items in question are pricier too. For example, also featured are $5 off Crest Whitening + Scope, $6 off Prilosec and $15 off an HP Photosmart cartridge.