Sam’s Club Brings Crowdsourcing to Private Label Innovation
In an effort to purposefully engage with its members and gain valuable feedback about its private label products, Sam’s Club has unveiled its new Member’s Mark Community. The opt-in network allows customers to shape and contribute to Member’s Mark, the private brand offered exclusively at Sam’s Club.
The Member’s Mark Community recently emerged from stealth with 50,000 active participating customers, allowing members to provide valuable input on products before they reach clubs. That input includes voting on exclusive flavors, rigorously testing and trialing new items, and more.
“At Sam’s Club, we have a long history of listening to feedback from our members and putting their needs at the center of everything we do,” said Megan Crozier, chief merchant for Sam’s Club. “It’s an integral part of how we develop our Member’s Mark products, and in today’s ‘experience economy,’ our approach sets us apart from other retailers in ways that deliver real value to our members.”
Continued Crozier: “Our approach goes beyond traditional focus groups and surveys, with true engagement that will shape the future of retail by creating more personalized experiences for our members. And this collaboration is already happening at scale, with input flowing from 50,000 active members, and we see the opportunity to include all members in the future.”
The Member’s Mark Community was utilized this season for the latest private label grill offering from Sam’s Club. Avid grillers were identified through a questionnaire, then the product development team distributed 20 prototypes to members in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area. Members tested the grills and gave their feedback, which led to the development of a grill that included adjusted features to ensure it was tailor-made to resonate with members' needs and preferences.
According to Sam’s Club, the community primarily seeks feedback from members who mirror the broader Sam's Club membership base. The next phase will offer all Sam's Club members the opportunity to become collaborators and partners with the brand.
Sam’s Club, a division of Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc., operates nearly 600 clubs in the United States and Puerto Rico. 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.
