Brands Can Now Buy Display Ads in Sam’s Club Scan & Go App Feature

The Sam’s Club retail media network, known as Member Access Platform (MAP), has started selling display ads in the Scan & Go feature of its mobile app, letting advertisers target shoppers at the point of purchase.

Scan & Go is a feature in the Sam’s Club app that lets shoppers scan items and pay for them, skipping the checkout line. The feature was originally launched as a standalone app in 2016 and folded into the app in 2018. Nearly a third (30%) of shoppers currently use Scan & Go, according to Ryan Burns, head of strategy at Sam’s Club MAP.

“The dirty little not-so-secret challenge for everyone is how to truly link the physical and the digital from an ad perspective,” Burns said. “Scan & Go does that.”

The new display ads sit below a recently scanned item. As people work through their shopping lists in-store, advertisers can use the retailer’s first-party data to target shoppers with relevant ads of complementary products. For example, when a person scans a package of spinach, a salad dressing ad could be served beneath the listing.

Around half of Sam’s Club members are “digitally engaged,” said Burns, meaning they use either the app or the website. The use of Scan & Go has increased by 50% in the past three years.

Unilever and several other MAP advertisers have bought Scan & Go ads at launch, Burns said. The ads currently show up for select app users and will be rolled out to all shoppers in the coming weeks.

Commerce media analyst Andrew Lipsman compared the new ad type to Uber’s in-app ads, but noted that it’s a unique type of inventory.

“It’s a valuable opportunity to deliver relevant ads based on the context of the experience,” he told ADWEEK. “In Uber’s case, it’s where the rider is going (like the airport or the stadium). In Sam’s Club’s case, it’s relevant to the shopping experience and the ability to deliver ads for complementary products or introduce new products to consumers, which can help increase sales for the brand and basket size for the retailer. Win-win.”

Lipsman also described the launch as a step forward in retail media 2.0, which he defines as blending physical and digital experiences for shoppers, incorporating more digital and in-store ads while integrating with connected TV.

On the horizon, he notes, is retail media 3.0, which builds out in-store capabilities to include features like product samples, delivering greater lifetime value.