(Yicai Global) Sept. 1 -- French retail giant Carrefour will open two new membership stores in Shanghai this month, taking advantage of the increasing popularity of the paid membership store model with Chinese consumers. It follows the recent opening of the fourth Sam's Club in the eastern megacity.

After a three-day trial run, Carrefour's third membership store in Shanghai will open tomorrow in the city’s northwestern Nanxiang town. A fourth will open later this month in Changning district, becoming the first Carrefour membership store to open downtown, Yicai Global learned.

The new outlets opening this month are upgraded from two existing stores that opened in the second half of last year, noted Chen Da, general manager of Carrefour's Membership Store Operation and Management Center.

They will increase the product range to 4,000 items from about 2,500 and offer delivery services covering the city center from the Changning store, Chen added.

In recent years, the rise of e-commerce has hit traditional retailers hard, but membership stores that offer a wider variety of products at affordable prices have been gaining in popularity. Last month, Sam's Club, a subsidiary of US retail giant Walmart, opened its fourth store in Shanghai, which is also its 37th in China.

Costco, which specializes in warehouse retail, plans to open its second Shanghai store in Pudong district. Since first entering the mainland market in 2019, the US retail giant has opened two stores, in Qingpu, Shanghai, and in Suzhou, Jiangsu, and it intends to enter more cities, including Hangzhou and Shenzhen.

Carrefour opened its first membership store in Shanghai last October. Its China Chief Executive Tian Rui said then that the company planned to upgrade 100 of its 200 hypermarkets to paid membership stores within three years, covering four municipalities and 15 provincial capitals.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Tom Litting