In June 2019 Sam’s Club, the membership warehouse retailer owned by Walmart, with 600 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico, launched an effort to change virtually every major aspect of its operating model. The chain significantly reduced prices and the number of stock-keeping units (SKUs), introduced an array of digital technologies, redesigned jobs, and raised the average pay of employees (whom it refers to as “associates”) in its clubs by 31% (according to fiscal year comparisons).
A version of this article appeared in the May–June 2023 issue of Harvard Business Review.
