Sam’s Club MAP Adds Display Ads to App’s Scan & Go Feature
Sam’s Club Member Access Platform (MAP) is rolling out display ads in the Scan & Go feature of the warehouse club retailer’s app to help members easily find items as they shop in-club. The capability integrates physical and digital shopping for greater convenience, as well as offering a new way to measure member shopping behavior and ad performance in-club with MAP’s closed-loop attribution. It will also enable advertisers to connect with more members and provide a more engaging experience, as part of Sam’s Club’s broader approach to digital engagement.
According to the retailer, Sam’s Club MAP is the first and only retail media platform to integrate ads in a mobile self-checkout app experience. Scan & Go enables members shopping in-club to use their mobile devices to scan items as they shop, complete payment and bypass the checkout line completely. Scan & Go adoption has grown by 50% over the past three years, Sam’s Club noted, adding that one in three members is a regular user.
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Members who opt in will see display ads on the cart page that dynamically refresh after each new product scan, aiding in new product discovery during checkout using Scan & Go. The feature allows advertisers to reach members at the point of conversion and may help increase incremental sales of associated or halo products. Providing measurable results to Sam’s Club advertisers, the ads will track such metrics as return on ad spend (ROAS), click-through rate (CTR), incremental sales and conversion rate.
“This launch represents another step forward in Retail Media 2.0, which is characterized by the blending of physical and digital experiences,” noted Andrew Lipsman, founder and chief analyst at Chicago-based 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 rollout, several Sam’s Club MAP advertisers, including Unilever, will deploy 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 expand to 100% of in-club traffic over the next few weeks.
Sam’s Club is a division of Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc. The company operates nearly 600 clubs in the United States and Puerto Rico. Meanwhile, Walmart operates more than 10,500 stores and numerous e-commerce websites in 20 countries. Walmart U.S. is No. 1 on Progressive Grocer’s 2024 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America, while its Sam’s Club division is No. 8. PG also named Walmart one of its Retailers of the Century.
