Today’s soaring gas prices are bad news for consumers. Currently sitting at four-year highs, they’re stretching budgets, pushing up inflation, and sending prices upward nationwide.
But for wholesale stores? They’ve been a boon.
It’s true: New data shows that stores like BJ’s Wholesale, Sam’s Club, and Costco are seeing double-digit growth at their store pumps.
At one point last month, Sam’s even saw a 26% year-over-year jump in gas station traffic compared to a year earlier.
Higher gas prices send consumers to BJ’s, Sam’s Club pumps
Gas prices have soared thanks to the war in Iran.
The average price per gallon of regular gas is now up nearly $1.50 from one year ago, according to AAA. Gas prices are now at their highest point in four years, averaging $4.56 a gallon for regular, $5.43 a gallon for premium, and $5.66 a gallon for diesel.
Those prices are forcing consumers to shift driving habits, with many driving less or even canceling travel plans.
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that 44% have cut back on driving, 34% have nixed vacations, and 15% have even considered buying an electric vehicle due to rising gas prices.
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The soaring prices are also pushing drivers to be choosier about where they buy gas. Many, it seems, are heading to wholesale stores, where gas is often heavily discounted, according to new data from Placer.ai, a location analytics platform.
Costco’s discount, for example, averages about 20 cents per gallon, while BJ’s is a baseline discount of 5 cents per gallon — plus additional per-gallon discounts of 15 cents to 50 cents, depending on the card you use and how much you spend in-store.
Sam’s Club stations, which include stations at Walmart locations nationwide, offer varying per-gallon discounts, discounts for Walmart+ members, and 5% cash back if you use the right card.
And while those discounts sound steep, they seem to be paying off for the three companies. In the last week of April, BJ’s and Sam’s Club saw traffic to store gas stations up 18% over the year. Costco’s was up slightly less at 11%.
It’s a big turnaround for the retailers, as many had seen declining gas station visits at the start of the year. At the end of January, for instance, Sam’s Club gas pump traffic was down 11% from a year prior. BJ’s was down almost 6%.
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Drivers are filling up more often, too
Consumers aren’t just dropping in once, though. Placer.ai’s data shows they’re making it a repeat habit.
More than half of members who filled up at BJ’s and Costco’s pumps in March and April did so at least twice. At Sam’s, it was 43%.
“Rising visit frequency suggests that increased traffic is not being driven by one-time responses to pricing pressure,” Placer.ai reports. “Instead, higher fuel prices appear to be prompting members to consistently shift a greater share of their fuel spend into the wholesale ecosystem.”
Those numbers are up at all three retailers, with BJ’s seeing the biggest jump in repeat April visitors.
Related: GasBuddy signals gas-price reset amid shift in Iran War
