Sam’s Club Leverages Fresh Food and Digital Innovation to Drive Growth Ambitions
As Sam’s Club sets its sights on doubling sales, profits, and membership over the next decade, the retailer is focusing on enhancing customer experience through fresh food offerings and digital tools. CFO Todd Sears highlighted that convenience, quality, and omnichannel capabilities are central to this strategy. The company has already achieved a 50% sales increase and a 33% growth in members over the past five years, largely due to investments in fresh food departments like sushi and streamlined store experiences. In parallel, Sam’s Club is upgrading its app platform, integrating automated technologies such as Scan & Go and computer vision receipt checks to improve efficiency and reduce labor costs. With e-commerce now accounting for 17% of sales (excluding fuel) and delivery services surging by 160%, the retailer is leveraging both physical and digital innovations to meet evolving consumer demands.
Prioritizing Fresh Food to Attract and Retain Members
Sam’s Club views fresh food as a critical driver in drawing customers into stores and fostering loyalty. By investing heavily in high-quality offerings like sushi—available in nearly all locations—and ensuring consistent pricing on key items such as bananas and pineapples, the retailer aims to differentiate itself from competitors while maintaining affordability. These efforts have significantly contributed to same-store sales growth, particularly in combination with health and wellness products. The strategic placement of sushi stations at the front of remodeled stores adds an engaging visual element that enhances the overall shopping experience and encourages repeat visits. Maintaining freshness and quality across all clubs remains a top priority, especially as the company continues to roll out renovations designed to elevate the member experience uniformly.
To further solidify its position in the competitive retail landscape, Sam’s Club has made fresh food a cornerstone of its growth strategy. Sushi, in particular, has become a flagship product, with displays and chefs placed prominently in most of its 600 clubs. This visibility not only draws attention but also signals the club's commitment to premium quality. Additionally, by keeping prices stable on staple fresh items like bananas and pineapples—even amid rising import costs—the retailer ensures value for its members. The company combats cost pressures by minimizing spoilage and waste, thereby absorbing potential tariff-related increases. This approach has helped maintain consumer trust and satisfaction, reinforcing the perception that Sam’s Club offers superior quality without compromising affordability. As part of broader remodeling efforts, underperforming clubs are being upgraded to match the standards set by top-performing locations, ensuring a consistently elevated experience across the board.
Expanding Omnichannel Capabilities for Seamless Shopping
Digital innovation plays a pivotal role in Sam’s Club’s strategy to modernize the shopping experience and support long-term growth. By migrating its online app to the same platform used by Walmart, the retailer is creating a more integrated and user-friendly interface for consumers who are already familiar with Walmart’s digital ecosystem. Alongside this shift, in-store technologies such as Scan & Go and automated receipt verification systems are streamlining the checkout process, reducing wait times, and improving operational efficiency. These omnichannel enhancements are designed to give members greater flexibility in how they shop, whether in person, online, or through curbside pickup and delivery options.
The integration of advanced digital tools is transforming how members interact with Sam’s Club both inside and outside the store. The ongoing migration of the Sam’s Club app to Walmart’s platform marks a significant step toward seamless omnichannel functionality, allowing users to transition effortlessly between services. In-store, the Scan & Go feature now accounts for 35% of sales, demonstrating the popularity of self-checkout technology even after nearly a decade in use. Meanwhile, computer vision systems for automated receipt checking are cutting down on exit delays and shrinkage, processing twice as many items and detecting 17% more unpaid purchases compared to manual checks. On the e-commerce front, digital sales have grown by 27% in the latest quarter, with delivery surging by 160% year-over-year—largely driven by the success of the new pizza delivery service. Notably, average order values for pizza deliveries are ten times the price of the pizza alone, indicating that members are adding additional items to their carts. Many are also opting for express delivery, showing a willingness to pay for speed when convenience is paramount. Through this comprehensive omnichannel strategy, Sam’s Club is empowering members to choose how, where, and when they want to shop, strengthening engagement and driving future growth.