Sam’s Club Member Access Platform (MAP) is launching display ads in the Scan & Go feature to help members find more products while they shop in-club.
This capability integrates physical and digital shopping journeys to provide members with higher levels of convenience. It also unlocks a new way to measure member shopping behavior and ad performance in-club with MAP’s closed-loop attribution. This capability will help advertisers reach more Sam’s Club members and deliver a more engaging experience as part of the company’s broader approach to digital engagement.
Sam’s Club MAP is the first and only retail media platform to integrate ads in a mobile, self-checkout app experience, the company said. Scan & Go, a feature of the Sam’s Club mobile app, allows members to use their mobile devices to scan items as they shop, complete payment and skip the checkout line entirely. Scan & Go adoption has surged by 50 percent in the past three years. One in three members is a regular user, and its Net Promoter Score (NPS) regularly exceeds 90.
Members who opt-in will see display ads on the cart page that refresh after each new product scan, enhancing their shopping experience and helping them discover products as they check out with Scan & Go. This feature enables advertisers to reach members at the point of conversion and may help drive incremental sales of associated or halo products.
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“This new capability reflects our member obsession and commitment to ensuring ads reach the right members at the right time in their shopping journeys,” said Diana Marshall, EVP and chief growth officer, Sam’s Club.
“Creating a closed loop, omnichannel advertising experience enables us to better understand member shopping behavior and ad performance, ensuring we keep the member experience at the forefront while helping our advertisers achieve their objectives.”
Scan & Go’s core value proposition rests on skipping the checkout line. Placing display ads within the checkout experience makes it even more convenient for members to complete their purchases. The ads will provide results to advertisers, tracking metrics such as return on ad spend (ROAS), click-through rate (CTR), incremental sales, conversion rate and other results.
“This launch represents another step forward in Retail Media 2.0, which is characterized by the blending of physical and digital experiences,” said Andrew Lipsman, founder and chief analyst, Media, Ads + Commerce. “By integrating display ads into the Scan & Go feature, Sam’s Club is introducing a new surface to the shopping journey that can deliver value to both customers and advertisers.”
At launch, several Sam’s Club MAP advertisers such as Unilever will utilize Scan & Go ads to reach more members. Sam’s Club MAP’s new display ads in Scan & Go are available in all clubs for select members and will roll out to 100 percent of in-club traffic in the coming weeks.
