Customer Story
Sam’s Club Fully Monetizes their In-Club Digital Signage Network While Delivering on Brand Promise to Expect Something Special
The future of retail is changing. Customers in today’s market expect a more personalized and engaging experience. Digital signage networks allow brands to utilize the power of video to meet those ends by streaming relevant content on an unlimited number of digital screens, with the press of a button.
Sam’s Club, as part of the biggest retail group in the US, with the help of Wovenmedia, has discovered the key to monetizing their digital signage platform while better connecting with their customers in the store. Through this partnership of place-based screens and perfectly paired content management system (CMS), the Sam’s Club Digital Signage network spans over 25,000 screens in multiple departments, in nearly 600 clubs across North America, averaging 30 million viewers a month, and 6 million device connections every single day.
Company
Sam’s Club is a nationwide chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs, owned by Walmart Inc., the world’s largest retailer by revenue (Fortune 500 Global List, May 2022). As a membership club, it’s important for Sam’s Club to understand what their customers want – and how to tailor their customer experience accordingly. In 2021, their new member count grew by 12.9% as customers wanted to stock up on wholesale goods during the pandemic. Their retail media advertising network enables them to stay in touch with their growing customer base, spread across almost 600 locations in the US.
Using WovenManager, Wovenmedia’s unique and powerful cloud-based CMS designed specifically for digital signage, Sam’s Club has the flexibility to distribute their video messaging across their entire network of 25K+ screens, or micro-target a number of screen combinations.
Objectives
Sam’s Club is committed to providing their members with excellent products and services in-store, online, and using mobile technology. Their digital signage network has been specially designed to support this.
“The in-club network is designed to support our brand tagline, “expect something special”. Every time a member walks into a club, we want them to see or expect something that will delight and help their day or their shopping experience.”
There are five key metrics that Sam’s Club uses to measure the value and return on investment (ROI) of the network. These key performance indicators (KPIs) set a clear, quantitative benchmark for success and have laid the foundation for a valuable partnership between Sam’s Club and Wovenmedia.
Sam’s Club KPIs for Digital Signage
- Enhanced Membership Experience. Having digital screens in-store should elevate the membership experience – but creating the right content mix is crucial. You can set the pace for shoppers, reduce perceived waiting times, and influence purchasing decisions by varying the media you have on display. Overall, displaying the right content makes the experience of being in the club more enjoyable for customers.
- Sales Lift. Improve sales by pushing products and promoting items at strategic points in the customer journey, where members will expect to find them. Retailers should aim to advertise promotions in places where it will help increase basket size and lift sales.
- Create Revenue from Advertisers. Ad revenue can greatly relieve the financial pressures of maintaining an extensive digital signage network. But, in order to grow their returns, the clubs need to be able to meet advertiser expectations in terms of ad delivery (when, where, etc.). Some ads need to be run on time for a specific promotion, targeting certain locations instead of the whole network. The problem is, not all CMS platforms allow you to isolate streaming to individual screens. Sam’s Club needs a CMS that’s flexible enough to target specific locations and schedule content for third-party campaigns.
- Operational Efficiency. This refers to both in-store and network management operations. In the first instance, screen installation and maintenance should not disrupt the operations of the Club. Furthermore, the platform programming should be easy enough for an individual or a small team to manage whilst also being powerful and scalable enough to deliver the required content.
- Support In-Club Operations. Digital signage should make the jobs of the associates in the clubs easier. This could mean using them to promote products or services or to display information, e.g. a floor plan to help guide members through the clubs.
Wovenmedia’s Solution
Looking at these KPIs, it was clear Sam’s Club needed a full-service digital solution that would allow them to meet the expectations of both their members and their advertising partners. WovenManager enables them to schedule content, manage campaigns, and stream ads to the right screens at the right time.
How Sam’s Club is Using WovenManager CMS
- Cloud Video Encoding and Content Storage. Videos uploaded to WovenManager, including Sam’s Club media group marketing, advertiser videos, and clips from WovenContent, are encoded so they stream perfectly every time, no matter the source. These videos are stored on the Cloud and are optimized to play on Brightsign players, meaning the content will always play at its best.
- Network Programming Campaign and Inventory Management. WovenManager CMS allows Sam’s Club to manage media placement, schedule content, and set the order for the content to play on each screen. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy for one person to control multiple screens simultaneously. And with Proof-of-Play reporting, you can see all your campaigns are playing in the right place at the right time, exactly as they should be. This is crucial for retailers who need to maintain trust with their advertising partners.
- Content Delivery. For a network of this scale (25,000+ screens across nearly 600 stores), the delivery mechanism is of the utmost relevance. Wovenmedia is integrated with Microsoft Azure, enabling fast delivery, so the content moves as efficiently as possible.
“It’s very important when you are dealing with a large ad network that you can target content and schedule it to play when the advertiser or the internal team wants it to be played and where.”
Results
1. Screens Pay for Themselves
Sam’s Club keeps their members and colleagues engaged and informed through the use of endemic and third-party advertising. Endemic advertising refers to ad placement where it is native or natural to its market. It works by showing customers ads for products they are interested in or that are relevant to their needs. Because these ads have been tailored to shoppers in specific locations, members are less likely to ignore them. Instead, they become part of the overall shopping experience.
Because of the kind of environment we want to create in our clubs, we only have 100% endemic advertising in the clubs. It is a way to put technology in the club to help the members experience. That’s why only endemic brands get to participate with advertising inside Sam’s Club. This is promoting products that they are interested in and they can actually buy at the clubs, says Mike.
This creates a symbiotic relationship between Sam’s Club Media Group, the business unit, and Sam’s Club members. Tailored ads contribute to the creation of a more personalized customer experience – which is what consumers want. At the same time, the business unit benefits from a channel that generates the company extra revenue each month. Thanks to these ads, Sam’s Club’s digital signage network effectively pays for itself!
2. The Importance of Reporting & Insights Becomes Clear
Proof-of-Play reporting has been integral to the successful implementation of third-party advertising in Sam’s Club warehouses. WovenManager records data like the time and location of each playback and enables them to share this information with their partners.
Sales impact reports allow them to evaluate the effectiveness of their screens by showing which screens in which locations are generating the most sales. Examining this data continues to help them make more informed decisions about screen and content placement in their stores.
“We all ultimately want the same thing, which is great products at great prices. That's why people like Sam’s Club. Why they want to shop there. And we can never forget that fact.”
Final Thoughts
Using Wovenmedia, Sam’s Club has successfully deployed tens of thousands of screens across the US and elevated the customer experience in each of their almost 600 stores. These screens are multipurpose and can be used to inform, entertain, or influence consumer purchasing decisions. Sam’s Club also uses their digital screens to generate additional revenue through third-party advertising, which reduces the cost of running the network.
If you want to find out more about how you can use WovenManager to implement a retail media advertising network on a large or small scale, get in touch or sign up for your 30-day free trial today.
