Sam’s Club adding display ads into Scan & Go feature on its app
The Sam’s Club Member Access Platform (MAP) is adding display ads to the Scan & Go feature of the warehouse club retailer’s mobile app.
The new capability, which is designed to help customers easily find items when shopping in-store, integrates physical and digital shopping journeys to provide members with higher levels of convenience, according to Sam’s Club. It also unlocks a new way to measure member shopping behavior and ad performance in-club with MAP’s closed-loop attribution.
In addition, the new feature will help advertisers reach more Sam’s Club members and deliver a more engaging experience as part of Sam’s Club’s broader approach to digital engagement.
Scan & Go, a feature of the Sam’s Club app, allows members shopping in-club to use their mobile devices to scan items as they shop, complete payment and skip the checkout line entirely. Adoption of the feature has surged by 50% in the past three years, noted Sam’s Club, with one in three club members being a regular user.
Sam’s Club MAP is the first and only retail media platform to integrate ads in a mobile, self-checkout app experience, according to the company.
Members who opt-in will see display ads on the cart page that dynamically 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.
“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, executive VP and chief growth officer, Sam's Club, a division of Walmart. “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, the company said. amd placing display ads within the checkout experience makes it even more convenient for members to complete their purchases. The ads will provide measurable results to advertisers, tracking metrics such as return on ad spend (ROAS), click-through rate (CTR), incremental sales, conversion rate and other valuable results.
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“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 & 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 currently available in all clubs for select members and will roll out to 100% of in-club traffic over the coming weeks.
Sam’s Club operates nearly 600 clubs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
