Membership card?

A few days ago, I went to a Uniqlo store to see whether there are some things at a good deal. I found some T-shirts and socks on sale, so I bought some. At the checkout counter, a staffer asked me whether I had a membership card and I showed him my membership barcode on the phone.

To be honest, for me, there are not so many great benefits of being a member.

However, on the way back home, I just recalled some memories while traveling in Japan.

It was my first trip to Japan. One evening, my friends and I finished dinner near one of the busiest stations in Tokyo. It wasn’t too late, so we agreed to meet like two hours later at a meeting point near the train station.

I went to a department store near the train station. There are indeed many stores in that department store. I quickly checked whether there was something interesting on each floor. Then, I saw there’s a shop that sells merchandise of a top baseball club in Japan.

I went to the shop and saw some cool products there. I decided to buy some merchandise there.

I put everything I needed in a shopping basket and was ready to pay. Before paying, a staffer at the checkout counter asked me whether I have a membership card of the baseball club. Well, I like baseball and that baseball club usually attracts many fans. However, unfortunately, I wasn’t eligible to register for a membership because it’s only available for local residents.

But, I was just wondering why she would ask me that question. Then, the staffer said that with the membership card issued from that baseball club, there’s a 10% discount on all the items in the store. Well, I guess it’s the SOP of the store because I just don’t think that I looked like a person with a membership card.