Retail's biggest players are no longer competing only on price. Costco, Sam's Club parent Walmart, and Target are each making structural moves to deepen customer loyalty. The nature of those moves signals a quiet but meaningful shift in how retail value is being defined.
Costco bets on seniors' trust
Costco Wholesale is partnering with SCAN Group to launch Costco-branded Medicare plans. Medicare Advantage plans are health insurance products offered by private companies and approved by the federal Medicare program.
The two companies plan to sell jointly named Medicare Advantage products in two states and a Medicare supplement plan in a third. The three target markets cover roughly five million Medicare enrollees. Nationally, Medicare is a $600B+ business for insurers.
The new plans will integrate tightly with Costco's existing pharmacy, vision, hearing, and over-the-counter offerings.
They will be sold inside Costco stores and through standard insurance channels like agents and websites. Federal rules prohibit bundling a Costco membership with the health plan.
Costco's senior VP of pharmacy, Richard Stephens, said older members already trust the brand's vetting process at the pharmacy counter. The retailer is treating the rollout as a pilot — learning what works before any broader push.
"We are trying to create something that's incredibly simple for people to use that will enable them to seamlessly access their benefits."
Sachin Jain, SCAN Group CEO
The financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed. Regulatory approval from the Medicare agency is still pending, which is why the companies have not named exact markets or timing.
Sam's Club leans into the same playbook
Costco is not alone in using healthcare as a loyalty lever. Walmart's Sam's Club recently opened a rebranded store in Lebanon, Tennessee, featuring a new logo, slogan, and a connected healthcare suite merging pharmacy, optical, and hearing centers into one space.
The Lebanon location also debuted an expanded fresh food department, a sushi island, an outdoor cafe, and a full-service floral department. The store carries more than 240 designer optical frames from brands including Ray-Ban, Gucci, and Tom Ford.
Sam's Club plans to roll the rebrand out to all new and remodeled stores over time. A second rebranded location in Springdale, Arkansas, reopened in Oct. 2025. The Lebanon store is the first newly built location to carry the updated look.
Both Costco and Sam's Club are converging on the same insight: members who address healthcare needs inside the club visit more often and trust the brand more deeply.
Target takes a different angle
Target is betting on trendy food as its loyalty driver. The retailer has been overhauling its grocery aisles since spring 2026, expanding the section by more than 20% in roughly 150 remodeled stores and more than 50% in 300 new locations.
So far this year, Target has added roughly 4.6K new food items and more than 60 new brands. It expanded Asian food shelf space by about 75% after that category grew more than 25% in the prior year.
The retailer estimates the grocery revamp will generate more than $2B in growth over the next few years.
The strategy is explicitly not price-based. Identical national-brand food items cost roughly 5% more at Target than at Walmart, according to data firm Attain. Target's answer is curation, stocking emerging and exclusive brands that shoppers cannot easily find elsewhere.
Target shares have risen more than 50% this year. The company is set to report earnings on Wednesday, with analysts expecting a second consecutive quarterly gain in same-store sales. Food and beverage currently make up less than 25% of Target's revenue but have been its fastest-growing segment.
Walmart and Kroger are heading the opposite direction, leaning on price cuts and scale. Kroger's new CEO has pledged the biggest price reductions in years. Costco is also lowering prices on eggs, beef, and other staples.
Target's grocery business is roughly 12 times smaller than Walmart's and six times smaller than Costco's. That gap means curation has to work, because price competition is not a viable path at Target's scale.
All three retailers are making a similar underlying bet: give members and shoppers a reason to choose you that goes beyond the cheapest cart. For Costco and Sam's Club, that reason is increasingly healthcare. For Target, it is the appeal of finding something new.
