Six tips for building a more strategic and mutually beneficial partnership with this key retailer.
If Sam’s Club were viewed as a standalone business rather than the “warehouse club division” of parent company Walmart, it would be the 9th largest retailer in the U.S.
Not that Sam’s Club is dealing with any awareness issues, of course. The nation’s second largest club store operator is appropriately well known among not only packaged goods manufacturers but consumer product marketers in nearly every category — $93 billion in annual sales and a paying membership base estimated to be north of 47 million (Walmart doesn’t disclose the figure) will do that for a retailer.
Sam’s Club has also made a name for itself with the Scan & Go in-store shopping technology it’s been refining for a decade and is now used regularly by one in three members. Continued rollout of the tool is a core component of the retailer’s plan to renovate the entire store footprint over the next decade while opening 15 new clubs annually — part of an ambitious initiative to double both membership and sales in that timeframe.
Another key piece of that strategy is digital commerce, which came later to club stores than most retail channels, but now contributes roughly 20% of the retailer’s total non-fuel sales, having grown 24% in fiscal 2026. Store-fulfilled delivery of online orders has more than doubled in the last two years as members increasingly seek convenience: 36% of orders in the first quarter of fiscal 2027 were delivered in under three hours, according to the company. Expedited delivery services now reach 65% of U.S. households.
A maturing retail media business is contributing to ecommerce success. (Ad sales revenue, in fact, is included in the $15 billion total.) Newly rebranded as Walmart seeks to build synergies across its global retail media operations, Sam’s Club Connect has been working to help brand partners develop true omnichannel member experiences that span onsite, offsite, and in-store activation.
Membership levels are growing, too, and reached a new high in fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 — when roughly half of new signups were Millennials or Gen Z’ers, the company said. The “average” member is female, aged 35 to 54, and married with children, according to MRI. Average household income is $91,000, although the range spans from $75,000 to $150,000. Members typically make three trips per month to pick up 5.8 items and spend $85.16, MRI finds. And while value-focused, members are always willing to explore new products both in-store and, increasingly, online.
With that in mind, the strategic mission at Sam’s Club is to offer quality items and services at disruptive prices that make it easy for families (as well as small businesses) to find what they need at incredible values. The people-led, tech-powered execution of this mission is dedicated to helping members share more, serve more, and live more.
And the retailer is increasingly enlisting members to help with that mission. The Member’s Mark Community, which lets members sample and recommend products for the retailer’s private label portfolio, surpassed 150,000 participants this spring. Launched in 2024 after Sam’s Club made Member’s Mark its single own brand, the community has become a key differentiator that has inspired such initiatives as the “Made Without” ingredient labeling that now adorns all Member’s Mark food packaging.
Keys to Success
If it isn’t clear by now, Sam’s Club is member-obsessed. Brands seeking to build a strategic partnership with the retailer and a winning engagement strategy for its shoppers need to adopt the same mindset. Here are six recommendations that can help brands get there:
1. Bring the Innovation: Sam’s Club is focused on enhancing the member experience to grow and maintain the ranks of Plus members (which carries a $130 annual fee, twice the standard cost). A big part of that effort are new brands and exclusive products that will make the club shopping experience more unique and memorable. (The retailer is already leveraging Member’s Mark for this purpose.)
2. Leverage the Technology: Scan & Go is steadily becoming one of the most important member touchpoints, facilitating brand engagement as it eliminates the need for traditional checkout. Sam’s Club also is working with Walmart to integrate its inventory and shopping carts into third-party answer engines like Google’s Gemini, which could lead to a variety of offsite engagement opportunities.
3. Help Recruit Members: P&L success for Sam’s Club is based heavily on membership growth. Top brand partners will focus their efforts on improving the member experience overall and even directly helping to drive member acquisition and retention through exclusive products and programs.
4. Tap into Ecommerce: Recent improvements to the ecommerce proposition, including free shipping for Plus members and free curbside pickup for everyone, have contributed to record highs in digital penetration and first-year member renewal rates. Help Sam’s Club spread the word.
5. Get Healthier: Health and wellness is becoming a strategic growth platform as Sam’s Club seeks to position itself as a trusted partner for the wellness journey of members. Brands should work closely with their merchants to find ways of tailoring marketing messages when appropriate.
6. Make the Connection: Sam’s Club Connect is developing into a central hub for member engagement that can bring brand strategy to life digitally and physically across numerous touchpoints. It is now especially important for activating around the retailer’s key seasonal moments.
Publicis Commerce’s Retail Consultancy is an unrivaled team of in-market commerce experts who simplify the complexity of retail for our clients. Located in Bentonville, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Seattle, and the “backyards” of other key retailers, they provide deep knowledge of the retailer, expertise in key business areas (like strategy, media and creative), and door-opening personal relationships with key executives to deliver an unmatched level of business success for clients across accounts, channels, and shopper engagement platforms. For more information, contact EVP-Retail Consultancy Kandi Arrington at [email protected].
