Sam’s Club is piloting new technology that enables members to place direct-to-home orders while shopping in-store. The Scan & Ship program includes items that require large vehicles to transport (such as playsets, patio furniture, and grills) and also gives member an opportunity to select alternate colors and sizes unavailable in the club. Customers can buy it and have it delivered to their desired destination, usually within three to five business days.
“We challenge ourselves every day to develop and execute convenient solutions that disrupt the warehouse model and provide additional value to our members,” said Tim Simmons, senior vice president and chief product officer at Sam’s Club, in a statement. “Just like Scan & Go, Scan & Ship gives members greater control of their shopping experience. It’s exciting to see our team develop and launch the Scan & Ship pilot so quickly, and it’s got great potential to deliver the ultimate omnichannel member experience across our entire chain.”
Currently, three locations are participating in the pilot, including Sam’s Club Now, Sam’s Club’s Dallas-based innovation lab. This will allow the business to gather critical member feedback and modify functionality within the app before scaling to additional locations.
“Scan & Ship is the result of an internal program we’re really proud of called the Innovation Jam, which encourages associates to collaborate and develop prospective retail technology solutions during the two-day, sprint-like event,” said Vinod Bidarkoppa, senior vice president and chief technology officer, Sam’s Club, in a statement. “Scan & Go has been such a success story for us and Scan & Ship is a fantastic extension to all of the great innovation we already have in place.”
In addition, Sam’s Club launched a new feature at all clubs that gives members who don’t currently have the Sam’s Club app an opportunity to demo the Scan & Go feature without the commitment of downloading the Sam’s Club app onto their devices using instant app software.
“We know that once our members use Scan & Go they love the convenience it provides and are 90 percent more likely to use it again, so our team worked to design a solution that gives members an opportunity to test drive the feature and experience the benefits firsthand,” Bidarkoppa added.
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Image: Sam's Club