Chris Nicholas, CEO and president of Sam's Club, joins Anne Mezzenga and Chris Walton, live from the VusionGroup Studio at Groceryshop 2024, to discuss the future of retail and the innovative steps Sam's Club is taking to enhance the shopping experience.

One of the standout features highlighted is the introduction of a fully digital shopping experience at their new store in Grapevine, Texas, where there are no traditional checkout lanes, allowing customers to shop seamlessly using the Scan and Go app and innovative computer vision technology.

Nicholas shares insights on how these technologies not only streamline operations but also significantly improve customer satisfaction, with 64% of members enjoying a frictionless exit process. The conversation also touches on the importance of engaging with members and creating meaningful experiences, emphasizing the connection between innovation and growth.

As the podcast unfolds, listeners learn about exciting new product offerings and the vision Sam's Club has for elevating the retail landscape in the coming years.

Takeaways:

• Chris Nicholas, CEO of Sam's Club, emphasizes the importance of digital engagement in retail.
• The innovative Scan and Go feature allows members to shop and checkout seamlessly.
• Sam's Club is opening a fully digital store in Grapevine, Texas, eliminating checkout lanes completely.
• Members report a significantly higher satisfaction rate when using the Scan and Go app.
• Chris Nicholas highlights the connection between innovation and member experience at Sam's Club.
• The $100 Thanksgiving dinner offering demonstrates Sam's Club commitment to quality and value.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:00

Hello, everybody.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:01

to you live from Grocery shop: 2024

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:05

I'm Ann Mazanga.

Chris Walton: 00:00:06

And I'm Chris Walton.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:07

ion group booth, booth number: 8210

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:13

We're still early on in the day.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:15

We're still getting warmed up behind myself.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:16

Yes, we'll be here for the next couple of days, so please make sure to stop by, say hello.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:21

We've got lots of great interviews for you.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:23

And joining us now, the man of the hour, Chris Nicholas, the CEO and president of Sam's club.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:29

Chris, welcome.

Chris Nicholas: 00:00:30

Hi.

Chris Nicholas: 00:00:30

Thanks for having me.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:32

Well, we're really excited to have you.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:34

Thanks for being here and for joining us for grocery shop.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:38

Let's start maybe, Chris with a couple questions.

Chris Walton: 00:00:40

Yeah, I've got some questions for you.

Ann Mazanga: 00:00:42

Thank you.

Chris Nicholas: 00:00:42

We got you here.

Chris Walton: 00:00:43

You stopped by.

Chris Walton: 00:00:44

So your background's really.

Chris Walton: 00:00:45

Let's start with your background.

Chris Walton: 00:00:46

We always like to start with the background of our guests.

Chris Walton: 00:00:49

You've worked on what looks like multiple continents before your current position.

Chris Walton: 00:00:53

You've been in the role about a year, give or take.

Chris Walton: 00:00:55

Right?

Chris Walton: 00:00:55

Like last September.

Chris Walton: 00:00:56

So tell our audience about who you are and how you came to this role.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:00

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:00

Chris Nicholas, CEO and president of Sam's club.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:03

There we go, my friend.

Ann Mazanga: 00:01:05

Yes.

Ann Mazanga: 00:01:05

Thank you.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:06

You know, I started in retail really young.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:08

I'm from the UK.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:09

Yeah, I'm from the UK.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:10

Started at 14, working in a little grocery store in a place called Hull.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:16

It's a place where people don't have a lot of financial means, you know, and so everyone works, and I had to work, too.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:25

And I found a passion really early, so I was really lucky to find that, you know, grocery or retail in its broadest sense, was just a place where you could just solve real people's problems.

Chris Walton: 00:01:38

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:38

You also saw, like, really young.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:41

I saw really young that done well.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:44

Retail really makes a difference to families lives and, you know, that kind of mattered to me a lot.

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:48

And here I am, lots of years later, still in it and just having a ton of fun.

Chris Walton: 00:01:55

And what was the first job?

Chris Nicholas: 00:01:57

Yeah, I was working in the back room in a little tiny grocery.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:02

Literally, my first job was hiding inventory from the regional manager.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:07

The store manager was like, listen, lad, if it's going to work here, you've got to take these cages and move them out of the way so the regional doesn't see them.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:15

So I.

Chris Walton: 00:02:16

Forecasters worst nightmare.

Chris Walton: 00:02:17

That's basically what you're telling us.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:18

Yeah, exactly.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:19

And I learned right there the tricks that I needed to be aware of as I was then, you know, running stores and all of those things.

Ann Mazanga: 00:02:26

You were curious, but only about the right things at the right time, right?

Ann Mazanga: 00:02:30

Yes.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:30

There we go.

Ann Mazanga: 00:02:30

Got it, got it.

Ann Mazanga: 00:02:32

Well, you're doing one of the keynotes today.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:34

Yeah.

Ann Mazanga: 00:02:35

Tell us what you hope the audience will learn and take away from that session.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:39

I'm really excited about talking to the industry about how we think about pioneering the future of retail.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:47

I think it's important that we are all focused on what the future of industry looks like in serving people that need to be served.

Chris Nicholas: 00:02:54

And so we'll talk about the importance of being an innovator, being a pioneer, and we're talking about three big areas.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:04

The first is the importance of digital engagement.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:07

So that's both online, using your phone, but it's also in the club.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:14

So we've got this really cool innovation called Scan and go, where like, over a third of our members today are scanning their own items, checking out online, and then we've got this other innovation with these computer vision arches, where people can just walk straight out.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:30

So if you scan your own items, then you can.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:33

The computer vision arches will look at what's in your basket, compare it to your receipt, and they'll allow you to just walk out.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:39

That's really cool.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:40

So you get that innovation online, but you also get it in club.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:46

And that, mixed with e commerce, is a huge, like, powerhouse of growth for us as a business.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:52

The other two innovate.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:53

The other two things we're focusing on are member engagement.

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:55

So what experiences can we create for our members?

Chris Nicholas: 00:03:58

And finally, just great innovation with great items, which is member's mark.

Ann Mazanga: 00:04:02

Yes.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:02

So membersmark's a brand we're really proud of.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:06

It's really resonating with people.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:08

And so it's like, innovation, innovation, innovation.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:11

And all three of those are connected to growth.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:13

If you're doing a good job and innovating, generally growth comes.

Ann Mazanga: 00:04:17

Do you have any favorite members, mark new products right now that we should check out?

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:21

Yeah, it changes weekly.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:23

It should change weekly, though, because you want that innovation pipeline.

Ann Mazanga: 00:04:27

Every time I come in to Sam's.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:28

I want to be real.

Chris Walton: 00:04:29

Price is a factor in what you like too, so you're probably changing prices regularly too.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:33

And, you know, you know, actually EDLC and EDLP is really important to us.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:38

We're not promotional business.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:40

imited number of items, about: 4000

Ann Mazanga: 00:04:43

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:43

And every item has to sell enough that you can sell it on a pallet.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:46

So it needs to be really good item, really good value.

Ann Mazanga: 00:04:48

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:49

And we love national brands, by the way.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:51

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:51

As long as they are great value and as long as you're getting great innovation.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:55

And that's what Sam's club brings along with members, Mark.

Ann Mazanga: 00:04:58

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:04:58

So, you know, I don't know.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:01

I always, like, go to a food item because I love food, and I love all come along with it.

Ann Mazanga: 00:05:07

As opposed to what, a clean supply?

Ann Mazanga: 00:05:11

Pots and pans?

Ann Mazanga: 00:05:12

I don't need those right now.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:13

I know.

Ann Mazanga: 00:05:13

Like, what food.

Ann Mazanga: 00:05:14

I need to go in there, get lots of.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:16

Yeah, that's.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:17

Please do.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:18

Please buy lots of it.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:20

What I would tell you, funnily enough, before we get into my favorite item is when you talk to members about the things they love.

Chris Walton: 00:05:25

Oh, yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:26

Like, why are you a sam's club member?

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:27

They'll be like, it's the trash bags.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:29

They are like, they are the best trash.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:31

I'm like, they're are good trash bags.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:33

I agree with you.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:34

Or paper products or water.

Ann Mazanga: 00:05:36

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:37

But I I love the inspiration of these new items.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:40

And we've got this at Christmas set right now.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:43

We get, we get into seasons early.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:45

Wow.

Chris Walton: 00:05:45

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:45

Really?

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:46

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:46

We're almost out of Halloween now.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:49

We like to get in early and get out early and.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:51

Smart merchandising.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:52

It's smart merchandising.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:53

Our merchandise is a brilliant, we've got this thing called the prismatic display.

Chris Nicholas: 00:05:57

Oh, Boyden, it looks like, imagine a winter wonderland in your front yard that has a seven foot snowman, a big arch that looks like it's made of crystal.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:11

You name it.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:12

Prismatic.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:13

You should look at it.

Chris Walton: 00:06:13

Prismatic.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:14

It is selling out faster.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:16

You're going to have to be quick.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:17

But that Christmas inspiration that our merchants have just innovated, it didn't exist.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:24

They made it exist.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:25

We sold out in a hot minute last year.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:28

We doubled the buy.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:29

It's gonna sell out in a hot minute again.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:30

So we're feeling excited about it.

Ann Mazanga: 00:06:32

Cheer in a, in a box.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:33

Christmas joy.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:35

Christmas cheer in a box.

Chris Walton: 00:06:37

Nice.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:37

And in your front yard.

Chris Walton: 00:06:38

All right, well, so, getting back to the joy of why we're all here at grocery shop, I got off on a tangent.

Chris Walton: 00:06:44

Technological innovation.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:46

Yeah.

Chris Walton: 00:06:46

I want to, I want to circle back to what you said, too, because I think it's important.

Chris Walton: 00:06:49

You gave the statistic on scan and go.

Chris Walton: 00:06:51

One third of shoppers that's across the chain.

Chris Walton: 00:06:53

That's like 600 stores, give or take it, right?

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:55

Yep.

Chris Walton: 00:06:55

Is that right?

Chris Walton: 00:06:56

That's the right number.

Chris Nicholas: 00:06:56

So.

Chris Walton: 00:06:57

So one third of shoppers are using scan and go.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:00

Yeah.

Chris Walton: 00:07:00

To do their shopping inside a Sam's club store.

Chris Walton: 00:07:02

Yeah, that's important.

Chris Walton: 00:07:03

So then the next part I want to double click into is you've made a couple headlines.

Chris Walton: 00:07:07

You've mentioned them already to some degree, but then you had one that came out today that we're very keen on understanding.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:12

So.

Chris Walton: 00:07:12

So first off is I want you to talk more about the computer vision receipt checks.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:17

Yeah.

Chris Walton: 00:07:18

How does that work?

Chris Walton: 00:07:18

And then secondly, you also open up a new store.

Chris Walton: 00:07:21

You are planning to open up a new store in the coming weeks, that it basically takes the checkout lanes away completely.

Chris Walton: 00:07:27

So how the hell does that work?

Chris Walton: 00:07:29

So the floor is yours, my friend.

Chris Walton: 00:07:30

Chris.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:31

I appreciate that.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:32

Look, here's the idea, is that our job is to take friction out of members lives.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:39

And so every day that we get to take friction out of a member's life, we give them back time, which is really exciting because that's the thing they most want.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:49

And so what we decided years ago was we needed to go on a journey of innovation to solve our members problems.

Chris Nicholas: 00:07:59

So the first thing we did was scan and go.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:01

Scan and go was the ability for people to just take control of their own shopping and, and.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:07

But members told us that we don't want any friction in our lives, and we've got friction in other environments where we have to scan our way into a club, we have to stand at a checkout, we have to scan on the way out.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:22

And our job is to say no.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:24

We want to give you great items and great prices, but we also want to give you great experiences.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:29

And so over the years, we've learned a lot about computer vision.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:35

Computer vision is something that if you can get it right, you can really give joy to a lot of customers and a lot of members by taking friction out of their lives.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:43

And I'm going to give you an example.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:45

So if you, if you do some shopping and you buy 30, 40 items, if you're queuing at the checkout, that it's just not a joyous experience.

Chris Walton: 00:08:57

No, it's not.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:57

It just isn't.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:58

No.

Chris Nicholas: 00:08:59

If you're walking around and scanning items yourself, you can also see what those items are all about.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:03

You can investigate them as you're walking around.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:06

And then once you're done, you just check out on your phone, you just swipe right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:11

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:12

And then you walk to, you just walk to these arches and there's nobody there other than nobody there checking you.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:18

Because what the computer vision does, it says, let's take a look at all the receipts out there.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:22

Let's take a look at all of the items on your basket, there's no face check, there's no biometrics.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:27

It just looks at what's in your basket, and it compares that to all the receipts that are outstanding.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:32

And as long as it can compare the two and see everything in your basket, it gives the validation that you're good to go.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:37

And so then the members job is to just walk out and feel good about Sam's club.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:42

Now, that didn't happen overnight.

Chris Walton: 00:09:43

No.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:44

Like, we needed to do a lot of work on the engineering and on the.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:47

On the computer vision in the background.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:51

And the reason we got there was we did a lot of work in the back end on the associates work.

Ann Mazanga: 00:09:58

Okay.

Chris Nicholas: 00:09:58

Because you can't give all of these exciting experiences to members without sorting what the associates are doing and taking friction out of their life and taking mundane tasks out of their life.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:09

And so we started a long time ago with this computer vision journey with our associates work with inventory management.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:17

And so what we've got is we've got these floor scrubbers.

Chris Walton: 00:10:19

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:20

That go around the club.

Ann Mazanga: 00:10:21

Oh, yeah.

Chris Walton: 00:10:21

I.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:22

And they take 23 and a half million pictures a day of what inventory we've got up in the steel and on the shop floor.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:28

And so we know what everything looks like.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:30

We know where everything is.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:31

And we've taken 100 million tasks out of our associates hands.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:35

And so they get to.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:36

They get to do two things.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:37

One is they have a better life because they don't have all this mundane work.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:40

And the second thing they do is they get to invest time in the members by giving them an elevated experience, by helping them out with their problems.

Ann Mazanga: 00:10:49

Right.

Chris Walton: 00:10:49

And so.

Chris Walton: 00:10:50

So that's.

Chris Walton: 00:10:51

So basically, if I say what, wrap.

Chris Nicholas: 00:10:52

Up what you said.

Chris Walton: 00:10:53

In a nutshell, you're taking all this information that you're getting by way of the scan and go application, the computer vision, where it's implementing the store and it's correlating it together.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:01

Yeah.

Chris Walton: 00:11:01

To provide the shopper with the best experience they can.

Chris Walton: 00:11:04

And you guys are taking that to the next level.

Chris Walton: 00:11:07

And I think it's Grapevine.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:08

Grapevine.

Chris Walton: 00:11:08

Grapevine, Texas.

Chris Walton: 00:11:09

And when does the store open?

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:11

Yeah, so we've got this club at Grapevine in Texas, just near DFW.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:14

It's going to open next week on the 17th, and it brings together what the future should look like for Sam's club.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:21

Okay, so you've already paint the picture, my friend.

Chris Walton: 00:11:24

Yes, paint the picture.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:24

You're going to walk into this club, and it's a fully digital experience.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:29

So you walk in, and the first thing you're going to notice on your left hand side is there are no registers.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:36

So we expect 100% digital engagement.

Ann Mazanga: 00:11:40

Wow.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:41

In that club, which means everyone's shopping, scan and go, and it means everyone's walking through those arches.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:45

Now, we're going to have lots of associates there helping people.

Ann Mazanga: 00:11:48

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:49

Because, you know, whilst we've got a lot of people that are digitally engaged, there's going to be some people that we just got to help them get on that journey, but there's a lot more than that.

Chris Nicholas: 00:11:56

So because you don't have registers, you have space where the registers used to be.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:00

We're going to have some amazing online to offline experiences.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:03

Big things that you can buy online where you can interact with those items, you can order them online.

Ann Mazanga: 00:12:08

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:08

That's really exciting.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:09

We call.

Ann Mazanga: 00:12:10

You can do that on the app.

Ann Mazanga: 00:12:11

Right?

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:11

You can do all of that on.

Ann Mazanga: 00:12:12

The app where you're going to order.

Ann Mazanga: 00:12:13

Exactly.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:14

So that's exciting.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:15

We've got a lot of space dedicated to online pickup and online fulfillment.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:19

We've got six and a half thousand square feet of space where our associates can pick orders, they can get ready, stage the orders ready for pickup.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:29

So we expect the online pickup and delivery to be huge there.

Chris Walton: 00:12:33

Right, great point.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:35

We've got some really cool innovations that only a retailer would care about.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:39

Maybe like more refrigeration space.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:42

We've got some cool innovations in our fresh area, like a big sushi island, which we're really excited about.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:48

People love sushi.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:49

And by the way, it's also really exciting to be able to connect with the community.

Chris Nicholas: 00:12:55

So as you walk in on your right hand side, there's a huge big picture that's been painted of the community by a local artist.

Chris Nicholas: 00:13:04

So we just feel like this connection with the community is something that's really elevated too.

Ann Mazanga: 00:13:08

Well, I was just going to ask, you know, 100% digital adoption in this one.

Ann Mazanga: 00:13:12

All the other clubs are seeing a third of members using the app.

Ann Mazanga: 00:13:18

I have to ask because I know that there's probably retailers and brands listening who are curious, like, how did you make that decision to go all in on 100% digital for this one, knowing that it might alienate some consumers, but it's really the way of the future.

Chris Nicholas: 00:13:35

It's really a good question.

Chris Nicholas: 00:13:38

We are seeing rapid adoption of our scan and go and have just walk out anyway.

Chris Nicholas: 00:13:44

And what we found is that just by listening to our members about what do they want us to do?

Chris Nicholas: 00:13:49

And members are just saying that the less friction that I have in my life, the happier I am.

Chris Nicholas: 00:13:52

The NP's when you use your scan and go and just walk out is off the charts.

Chris Nicholas: 00:13:58

I think it's 14% higher than before the scan and go arch.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:02

The just the exit arches were in place.

Ann Mazanga: 00:14:05

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:06

We're seeing 64%.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:09

So just about two thirds of our members having frictionless exit just walking out.

Chris Walton: 00:14:15

Wow.

Chris Walton: 00:14:15

Okay.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:16

64%.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:17

And that's of all.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:17

That's not even.

Chris Walton: 00:14:18

That's everywhere.

Chris Walton: 00:14:19

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:19

And, you know, we kind of love the renewal rate and the amount that people spend when they're digitally engaged, which is using all of this, significantly higher if you're a digitally engaged member.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:32

So that means you use scan and go.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:33

You walk through the arch and you shop online.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:35

You spend three times what a non digitally engaged member spends.

Ann Mazanga: 00:14:40

So you're paying off the experience.

Ann Mazanga: 00:14:41

Like the thesis maybe, of what you're saying is that, yes, it's maybe this first time that you're learning to use the app, but you're really unlocking a much more frictionless experience for you.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:51

And the members want it and when they use it and they never go back.

Ann Mazanga: 00:14:56

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:14:57

And what's really interesting is whether it's your Gen Z's all the way through to the greatest generation, whether it's the people that earn lease to the people that earn most, whether wherever you are geographically, everyone is involved in this.

Chris Walton: 00:15:07

Right?

Chris Walton: 00:15:07

Right.

Chris Walton: 00:15:08

Those types of numbers, they must be, right?

Chris Nicholas: 00:15:10

Yeah.

Chris Walton: 00:15:10

So I'm curious, like, what's in the water at Sam's club?

Chris Walton: 00:15:12

Like, what is the.

Chris Walton: 00:15:13

What is in the water that makes you so unafraid to do these types of things?

Chris Walton: 00:15:19

We were talking before we even got started.

Chris Walton: 00:15:20

Like, you had Sam's club now, which was a scan and go only store for a while.

Chris Walton: 00:15:23

It's still in existence now you're doing a checkout list store.

Chris Walton: 00:15:27

So a cashier list store, so to speak, what gives you the confidence to do that and have the clairvoyance to say, you know what?

Chris Walton: 00:15:34

This makes sense.

Chris Walton: 00:15:35

This matters, and we're going to learn from it.

Chris Nicholas: 00:15:36

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:15:37

I think we are a people led, tech powered business.

Chris Nicholas: 00:15:42

So if you're grounded in solving people's problems and you're listening to them, it gives you a lot of confidence for making changes.

Chris Nicholas: 00:15:50

The second thing is it's okay to just fail as long as you're learning.

Chris Nicholas: 00:15:56

So Sam's now, which was our original store innovation club, which is still there and still innovating, a lot of what we're seeing today, including scan and go, including the exit arches, and including all of the work that's made our associates lives better.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:08

That all started there, but we might have had a hundred things that didn't work, but every single time, we just learned.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:14

And we learned to move fast.

Ann Mazanga: 00:16:15

Right?

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:15

Sam's club has always been the sort of tip of the spear on innovation within Walmart, and it's certainly going to continue that way.

Ann Mazanga: 00:16:22

have in store for the rest of: 2024

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:40

You know, it's.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:41

Yeah, I mean, I do love that.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:42

And you should go and get it.

Ann Mazanga: 00:16:44

You've done as soon as you can.

Chris Walton: 00:16:46

While supplies left, while supplying.

Ann Mazanga: 00:16:47

I gotta open my app and order it right now for pickup when I get home.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:50

Yes.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:50

I mean, you can.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:51

You can.

Chris Nicholas: 00:16:52

You will continue to see a steady stream of innovation with digital engagement with members, Mark, and with a lot of the work we're doing on, on the elevated associate and member experience.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:04

But I think what I'm most excited about in the next few months.

Ann Mazanga: 00:17:09

Yeah.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:10

It's just the joy that we're going to be bringing to our members.

Chris Walton: 00:17:14

Right.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:14

The items that we're selling are ready for.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:18

I mean, you know, we are excited about giving a high quality Christmas.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:24

And so let me just talk about one of them, which is a Thanksgiving dinner.

Chris Walton: 00:17:27

Okay?

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:27

So we've got a $100 Thanksgiving dinner to feed ten people, and this is like, it's an elevated experience.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:36

This is not $100 for ten people.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:38

And, you know, it's kind of good enough.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:40

This is like an amazing turkey.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:42

Great stuffing, great veggies, a great dessert.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:46

I mean, all the things that you want to be part of your Thanksgiving, and it's all for under a $100.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:50

So, you know, if there was ever a reason to be a member of Sam's club, that would be one of them.

Chris Walton: 00:17:55

Right?

Chris Walton: 00:17:55

Wow.

Chris Walton: 00:17:56

It's very convincing, actually.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:58

It's really good.

Chris Nicholas: 00:17:59

You should try it.

Chris Walton: 00:17:59

Yes, I think I might.

Chris Walton: 00:18:00

I think I might do that.

Chris Walton: 00:18:01

Well, Chris, thank you so much for stopping by and spending time with us today.

Chris Walton: 00:18:05

Again, Chris Nicholas, the president and CEO of Sam's club.

Chris Walton: 00:18:08

Thanks to the fusion group for supporting our work here today.

Chris Walton: 00:18:10

Come on by.

Chris Walton: 00:18:11

We're going to be here all day doing interviews with all kinds of retail executives.

Chris Walton: 00:18:14

We're in booth a two 10.

Chris Walton: 00:18:17

And until next time, and be careful out there.