According to public reports, consumers in multiple locations have recently encountered mandatory requirements at a certain chain brands stores, where non-members are unable to check out. Even when purchasing ordinary daily necessities such as tissues and mosquito repellent, they are required to register as members. On 2, 2026, the official customer service of the chain brand responded, stating that membership registration is only required for purchasing limited-edition co-branded items like boxes. If membership is required for purchasing other items, customers can report it to the official channel, and they will contact the relevant store managers for rectification. In the view of experts, membership-based operations must adhere to the principle of voluntariness. If merchants adopt a "members-only" model, they should inform consumers of the rules in a manner before they enter the store or make a purchase, allowing consumers to choose voluntarily. Otherwise, it may be suspected of infringing upon consumers' right to choose and right to fair. In this regard, regulatory authorities should improve and refine industry regulatory rules, issue specific guidelines, and clearly prohibit making membership registration a prerequisite for checking out ordinary goods. Lack of Notices From June 5 to June 9, a reporter from the Legal Daily visited five offline stores of the chain brand to test their checkout requirements. The reporter selected one blind item and other daily necessities, such as tissues and masks. During checkout, the staff at all stores required the reporter to present a membership code. When the reporter stated they were " a member," the staff at the aforementioned stores all mentioned that the brand explicitly requires blind boxes to be purchased by members only. In three of the stores, after the reporter asked to the blind box and only purchase daily necessities, they were able to check out successfully. However, staff at two of these stores tried to persuade the reporter to register as a member, promotional policies such as "new members get coupons" and "there is currently a rebate activity, and participating as a member is equivalent to getting cash back." After the reporter refused the staff did not further persuade them. In the other two stores, after the staff stated that the items were for members only, the reporter claimed to have registered as a member. In one of them, the reporter successfully checked out after simply providing their mobile phone number for registration. In the other store, the staff stated that a membership code from the chain's mini-program needed to be presented, and checkout could only proceed after scanning the code. After the reporter presented the QR code, the staff further required them to enable subscription for the rebate (there is a "Subscribe" button in the rebate section below the QR code). Upon clicking, the reporter found that notification permissions needed to be enabled in the phone to activate the subscription, so they refused the staff. The staff eventually agreed to let the reporter check out by only providing their mobile phone number. It is worth noting that in aforementioned stores, except for one, the reporter did not see any clear notices regarding membership-only purchases, either in the blind box area or at the checkout counter. The stores posted promotional information such as membership rebate activities at the checkout counters. The reporter learned through interviews that not only blind boxes, but some daily necessities are also required to be "purchased members only." On the afternoon of May 31, Ms. Chen from Shenzhen, Guangdong, bought a set of seamless hangers for 9.9 yuan at a store the chain brand. During checkout, the staff pointed to a QR code on the counter and asked her to scan it to register as a member. Ms. Chen stated that she did need to register as a member and could just check out directly, but was told by the staff, "The system has been upgraded, and non-members cannot check out." After few minutes of stalemate, in order not to affect other consumers' checkout, Ms. Chen had to give up her purchase.

"Merchants should guarantee consumers' right to choose, and should not turn 'do you want it' 'you must have it'," Ms. Chen said helplessly. Ms. Liu, a resident of Beijing's far suburbs, encountered a situation she found "inconceivable". May 22, she went shopping at a store of a certain chain brand near her home, picking out snacks, candies, stationery, and other items. At checkout, the asked her if she had a membership. After Ms. Liu stated she didn't have a membership and wanted to pay directly, the clerk checked her out. However, when Ms Liu asked the clerk for a paper receipt, the other party was unwilling to provide it. At Ms. Liu's insistence, the clerk handed the receipt to her. Ms. later found that the receipt clearly showed a registered membership card number (mobile phone number), but it was not her own mobile phone number. "It should be another member's number Forced membership suspected of being illegal Why are consumers required to register for membership to shop when checking out? During the interview, some clerks said this was a measure by store to crack down on scalpers; other clerks said that only store members can enjoy rebates and other promotional activities, so they all persuade customers to register for membership to participate in the. Ren Chao, a professor at East China University of Political Science and Law, believes that forced membership registration constitutes unilaterally increasing consumer obligations during the transaction process, forcing consumers to accept unreasonable conditions at checkout, and is suspected of constituting a disguised forced transaction. Ren Zhanmin, a member of the lawyer expert pool of "Legal Daily" and Party Committee Secretary of Guanling Law Firm, told reporters that the behavior of stores forcing membership registration and binding mobile phone numbers before checkout infringes on multiple legitimate rights and interests of consumers. First, behavior violates consumers' right to autonomous choice, in violation of Article 9 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law. Second, it violates consumers' right to have their personal information protected by, as there is no direct and necessary connection between purchasing ordinary daily necessities and "collecting personal information such as mobile phone numbers". When consumers refuse to provide their mobile phone numbers to for membership, merchants refuse to check out, which is essentially refusing to provide goods on the grounds of "disagreeing to process personal information", constituting a violation of Article 1 of the Personal Information Protection Law. Finally, after some consumers refuse to apply for membership, a stranger's membership mobile phone number appears on the receipt. This behavior constitutes the use of others' membership accounts to complete the checkout without the consumer's consent, is suspected of irregular operation, damages the authenticity and fairness of the transaction, and consumers have every to complain to the regulatory authorities about this. "It is worth noting that using conditions such as clicking to subscribe or following corporate WeChat as a prerequisite for unlocking discounts or payment constitutes sales and attaching unreasonable conditions, and there may be disguised collection of personal information in the process, which is also suspected of being illegal," said Ren Zhanmin. Strengthening supervision governance Some people believe that some large chain supermarkets have long practiced membership access and all-category membership purchase limit policies. So, is there a difference between their model and that a certain chain brand? How should the legality of setting membership thresholds be defined? In response to problems such as some merchants arbitrarily expanding the scope of forced membership and using mobile phone numbers enter the membership system, the interviewed experts put forward governance suggestions from the perspectives of supervision and store management.

In Ren Chao's view, there are obvious differences between the two models. First, some large chain supermarkets inform consumers at prominent locations such as store entrances, official websites, and apps that they need to become members to shop, so consumers are aware of the rules before entering the store;, stores of a certain chain brand do not inform consumers in advance, but instead require them to register as members only when checking out at the cashier, which is an after-thefact additional condition. Second, the membership fees of some large chain supermarkets are their main source of profit, and they provide exclusive products for members accordingly; the main source of profit the certain chain brand is product sales, and there is no essential difference in the price of ordinary products purchased by non-members and members. Third, all categories of products in some chain supermarkets are open only to members, and the scope of membership is fixed; the categories of products purchased by official members of the certain chain brand are not fixed, and there is in the implementation of the head office's requirements. "Based on this, the legality of setting membership thresholds needs to meet the conditions of prominent prior notification, clear and equivalent and obligations, and non-violation of mandatory legal provisions," Ren Chao emphasized. Operators must inform consumers in a clear and prominent manner that they need to register as members to shop they enter the consumption venue or start selecting products, and must provide consumers with clear membership benefits, while not violating legal provisions such as the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and and the Personal Information Protection Law. In response to problems such as some merchants arbitrarily expanding the scope of mandatory membership and using mobile phone numbers to enter the membership system without authorization, interviewed experts proposed governance suggestions from the perspectives of supervision and store management. Ren Zhanmin suggested that market supervision departments could issue regulations targeting membership-based business practices, clarifying the, scope of application, notification obligations, and information collection requirements of the membership system, and carry out special inspections. Enterprises that force membership at checkout should be ordered to rectify their behavior be fined in accordance with the law. For the acts of privately using consumers' mobile phone numbers to enter the membership system and illegally collecting personal information, they should be ordered to delete illegal information and be strictly punished in accordance with the law. A "green channel" for complaints about mandatory membership consumption should be established relying on the 12315 platform promptly understand consumers' demands. In Ren Chao's view, some brands need to adjust their evaluation systems, cancel the use of membership registration volume as a core indicator, and on service quality and consumer satisfaction. At the same time, they need to comprehensively investigate and stop unnecessary mandatory membership registration behaviors, strengthen employee training, internal supervision, and accountability, strictly the principle of minimum necessity for personal information protection, and improve the personal information security management system. (Outlook New Era)