Sam’s Club growth strategy includes pizza delivery and sushi

Sam’s Club growth goals are aggressive and follow 50% revenue growth of the past five years. Sam’s Club execs have said they want to double sales and membership in the next eight to 10 years. Sam’s Club was an $86 billion in the recent fiscal year.

Some of that growth will come with 30 new clubs over the next five years, starting with 15 this year. Sam’s Club also is focusing on convenience, fresh food and omnichannel – online sales – offerings to play a key role in its growth strategy.

“We’ve really invested heavily and focused on improving convenience and improving experience, and every trend we see with consumers is they want that,” Todd Sears, senior vice president and CFO of Sam’s Club, said at the recent Evercore Consumer & Retail Conference.

New locations will open in markets where there is a “good enough addressable market” so the company can achieve its “average member base” within a few years of opening, he said.

Sam’s membership base has grown 33% over the past five years, with virtually no new clubs added. Sears said fresh foods sold online and in clubs with in-store digital tools will serve as areas where the retailer plans to hook consumers wanting convenience and value.

FRESH FOOD
Fresh food continues to be a traffic driver for Sam’s Club’s business, and it’s where the members can access quality immediately, and they can tell that difference, Sears said. Fresh food areas in clubs are getting an upgrade on a rotating schedule. He said clubs that have had the revamp are performing very well.

In the recent quarter, Sam’s Club reported comparable sales growth of nearly 7% driven by fresh food and health and wellness products, Sears said. Sushi is one of the key fresh food areas for the club. Sam’s Club has sushi displays and a sushi chef in 581 of its 600 clubs, he said. As the club remodels, it’s making sure the sushi chef is front and center. Member’s Mark sushi is the latest fresh category to come under the private brand.

“Sushi is a big traffic driver. It’s one of the reasons why people come all the time, and the quality of it is excellent,” he said.

Pizza for delivery is now available in all 600 clubs, an announcement the retailer made during its recent shareholder week. The Member’s Mark 16-inch pizza costs $8.98 and is delivered free for Sam’s Plus members for a $50 total order. Members can also pick up the pizzas in the pickup area of their club or have them delivered for $12.

Sears said keeping prices consistent for fresh items is another way Sam’s Club plans to differentiate itself from competitors. The retailer has not raised prices on pineapples and bananas even though those items are imported and subject to rising tariffs, Sears said.

“What’s surprising is the average order value of a pizza order is 10X the price of the pizza, so people are adding other things to the basket,” Sears said. “The other interesting thing is that a significant percentage of the total orders, members are choosing to pay for it for delivery through express. … The value of the pizza is so big. They’re willing to pay that extra money to have it delivered that much faster.”

The need-it-now desire for pizza is driving some consumers to try delivery and the express delivery options for the first time, Sears said.

‘MADE WITHOUT’
Sam’s Club is working to remove more than 40 ingredients members say they don’t want in consumables. said Julie Barber, chief merchandising officer at Sam’s Club. She said the focus on the Member’s Mark brand is quality, innovation and consistency at low prices. Members Mark brand constitutes about 30% of Sam’s sales overall.

Ingredients being removed in the three-year process include artificial colors, aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup. Such ingredients were identified based on a combination of member feedback, nutritional guidance and industry trends. Sam’s Club reported that its “Made without” initiative is 96% complete across the Member’s Mark brand and it will be 100% done by the end of the year.

“We take pride in the high-quality ingredients that go into our products, but what truly differentiates us are the ingredients we consciously leave out,” said Barber.

Sam’s said one of the last hold-outs in getting to 100% was in Yellow 5 cake icing dye. Nick Brewer, director of brand development and partnerships at Sam’s Club, has said the vibrant icing colors of blue, red and yellow were hard to replicate using only natural ingredients. Over the past three years, Sam’s Club has found natural substitutes for red and blue, and is in the final testing phase for yellow.

Brewer said the merchant team is working with suppliers and food scientists and expects to reach the 100% goal by the fiscal year on Jan. 31, 2026.

Sam’s Club confirmed it will close an online fulfillment center in Fort Worth, Texas, resulting in the loss of about 200 jobs. Fulfillment will shift to newer high-tech operations in nearby Lancaster and three other Dallas locations — all in the metro area.

This closure comes as Walmart said earlier this year it would combine some of its supply chain with Sam’s Club to drive more efficiency.

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