From Discovery to Delight: Capturing Holiday Shoppers at Sam’s Club

Make your brand an integral part of the holiday season

For shoppers, the “holiday season” refers to November and December, the final two months of the year that contain the “Cyber Five” (the five-day period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday), Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.¹

For advertisers, though, the season should start much earlier. Almost a quarter of consumers (23%) will start gift shopping by August or earlier. More than a third of people (37%) will start by September, and more than half (55%) will start by October.² This means advertisers need to start their holiday campaigns accordingly. 

Why holiday advertising matters 

Between gift-giving and entertaining, the holiday season is the busiest time of the year for retailers and advertisers alike. Holiday sales in 2024 accounted for almost a quarter³ of the year’s overall retail activity, rising 4% higher than 2023 to a record $994.1 billion.⁴

Many shoppers will search for deals and inspiration online before visiting a store to purchase, switching seamlessly between shopping online, on phones, and in-store.⁵ That’s why it’s important your message is there to meet them—from inspiration to consideration to purchase—wherever they’re shopping.

What Sam’s Club members look for during the holiday season

Sam’s Club members are not only gifting during the holidays, they’re also hosting and feasting, so food items, cleaning supplies, and more are on their shopping lists. Members are also more likely to impulse buy⁵ during this time, setting the stage for a wide range of brands and items to shine. 

Here’s what we’ve found our members are up to around the holidays:

• 70% host family and friends⁶

• 59% visit family and friends⁶

• 58% decorate their homes⁶

• 47% clean or DIY their home⁶

Some of our top-selling items around the holidays include:

• Non-alcoholic beverages

• Party trays

• Wine

• Cleaning products

• Cookies

• Cheeses

• Holiday sides

• Foil and wraps

• Disinfecting wipes

As you can see, members are buying more than just gifts around the holidays. This broad assortment makes the season an opportunity for all kinds of household brands.

Reaching members during the holidays with MAP

At Sam’s Club MAP, we have a variety of ways to help you build brand awareness and establish a relationship with members that will help make your brand a go-to holiday favorite.

The holiday shopping season is one of the longest of the year, so you’ll want to engage shoppers early and stay top of mind all season long. 

MAP helps your brand reach members at every stage of the shopping journey, from awareness to purchase. With an omnichannel strategy, you can reach members however and wherever they want to shop. Whether online or in-Club, your brand can be there.

Immerse members in your brand with Omni Experiences

Omni Experiences are multi-channel, multi-sensory activations that allow Sam’s Club members to experience your brand through a combination of in-Club events and digital media:

• In-Club events bring your brand to life with custom activations, sampling, demos, interactive games, and more. These experiential opportunities help Club members learn more about your items while experiencing them firsthand. 

• Search and display ads elevate your items as members search and browse high-traffic pages on the Sam’s Club website and app. Holiday landing pages highlight featured items and inspire members with gift ideas and essentials for holiday entertaining.

• Offsite ads meet members wherever they shop and browse using MAP’s first-party deterministic data and closed-loop measurement.

Increase consideration with video

Video is a powerful driver of purchase decisions. Eighty-seven percent of people say they've been convinced to buy a product or service by watching a video.⁷ That’s why it plays a central role in the shopping experience at Sam’s Club. Our video advertising solutions are powered by first-party member data and help you engage members with visual storytelling. 

• Connected TV (CTV) Ads reach Sam’s Club members while they stream their favorite shows and movies.

• Sponsored Videos influence purchase decisions as members are searching for specific items on the Sam’s Club site and app.

• Interactive Videos provide a “hands-on” way for members to see how your product works, key features, dimensions, and more on the Product Detail Page (PDP).

• In-Club Display Screens reach members as they shop in-Club to help drive discovery and consideration. 

Reach members at the point of purchase with Scan & Go™ Display ads

Sam’s Club MAP is the first retail media platform to integrate ads within a mobile, self-checkout app experience. That means your brand can reach holiday shoppers at the point of purchase, helping drive greater conversion and incremental sales.

Get in the holiday spirit with Sam’s Club MAP

Don’t wait for the most wonderful time of the year to start planning your holiday campaigns; start now. We’re happy to talk with you about the benefits of Sam’s Club MAP and the ways it can boost your brand all year long.

Contact us today to learn more.

¹ https://www.emarketer.com/content/everyone-knows-term-cyber-monday-have-you-ever-wondered-where-came-from

² https://www.bazaarvoice.com/press/bazaarvoice-releases-2024-global-holiday-season-consumer-behavior-report/

³ https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/nrf-says-holiday-season-was-a-notable-success-as-consumers-came-out-to-spend-

⁴ https://apnews.com/article/holiday-spending-mastercard-0e11efb764f5ff0ad84ddb4505e17398

⁵ https://www.emarketer.com/topics/category/holiday%20season

⁶ My Member’s Mark Micro Seasons Wave 2 fielded Oct 2022

⁷ https://www.wyzowl.com/video-marketing-statistics/