Walmart’s Sam’s Club counters China claims it pulled Xinjiang goods from app
- Executive tells analysts that the matter is a misunderstanding and app did not support searches based on place names
- Around 500 shoppers in the region cancelled their membership, he says
Chinese social media users and local news outlets criticised Sam’s Club, a members only warehouse club that offers products and services, last week for the removal of the products from its domestic online stores. China’s anti-graft agency accused the US retailer and Sam’s Club of “stupidity and short-sightedness” over the matter.
The call, a full recording of which was shared by a participant, introduced the representative as Sam’s Club regional e-commerce leader surnamed Zhang.
“This matter is a misunderstanding,” Zhang said on the call.
“We didn’t defend ourselves, because, there is no reason to be afraid of things we haven’t done,” Zhang added. A second participant corroborated Zhang’s comments made on the call, which also talked about Sam’s Club’s plans in China.
Xinjiang Communist Party boss and US sanctions target to leave post
Walmart did not respond to a request for comment. Neither Walmart nor Sam’s Club has commented publicly so far on the backlash against them in China and Zhang did not comment on the situation at Walmart, which was also accused of removing products from the far western Chinese region, from both its offline stores and app.
The controversy, which prompted a wave of Sam’s Club shoppers in China to cancel their memberships, underscores the tightrope foreign companies walk in China as they balance geopolitical tensions between China and the west with China’s importance as a market and supply base.
Zhang said that Sam’s Club, which has 4.4 million members in China, saw around 500 shoppers cancel their membership cards in its central region. He did not give a nationwide number.
“It has negative impact on our membership base, but time will prove everything in the future,” he said.
“We think the potential in China is very big.”
China is a huge market for Walmart, generating revenue of US$11.43 billion during the company’s fiscal year that ended January 31. Of 423 retail units Walmart operates in China, 36 are Sam’s Club stores, according to its website.