Sam’s Club has made an effort to bolster its business amid increasing pressure from rival Costco.
With a goal of increasing loyalty of small business owners, the chain, a subsidiary of Walmart, is offering five new services for small business owners, which it claims can save members up to $2,300 per year:
1. Identity Theft: Provided by LifeLock, members will save up to 25 percent on annual support.
2. Accounting services: Through a partnership with 1-800Accountant, Sam’s Club members will have access to bookkeeping services for as little as $29 a month.
3. Business Lending Center: Sam’s Club will team up with loan marketplace Lending Club to operate a lending platform, offering loans between $5,000 and $350,000 and Smart Biz offering loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration. Sam’s Club members will get a 20% discount on fees related to the loans.
4. Payment Processing: By partnering with First Data, Sam’s Club is offering small businesses discounted payment processing services. The first rate plan that costs $19 a month, and allows companies to accept up to $800 in monthly volume for Visa, MasterCard and Discover charges. A second plan charges a low rate of 1.29 percent plus 15 cents per transaction, up to $350 per transaction.
5. Online Marketing Services: Members who need assistance with website design or digital marketing services will have access to discounted offers from Web.com.
Sam’s Club is the eighth largest retailer in the U.S., with annual sales of $56 billion. There are 649 locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
