Sam’s Club Innovation Jam Iterations

Sam's Plan-Easy to Sam's Packs

Sam's Plan-Easy, an innovation from the 2020 annual Innovation Jam at Sam's Club, was iterated upon and turned into a revolutionary idea by my team. Sam’s Plan-Easy was basically a system that dynamically tailors the package suggestions for each member. I saw much opportunity in this concept immediately. My team and I revolutionized this idea into "Sam's Packs". This could change the way care is given across the world if implemented through Sam's Club. Before I get into what Sam's Packs is and how we got there, let's go through the process, starting with the innovations presented by Sam's Club...

My Contributions
~Team Project Leader | Designer ~

~Research, Customer/User Experience Design, Consultation~

~5 Weeks, Fall 2021~

And it begins...

Comprehending the 2020 submissions (Week 1)

The Sam's Club Innovation Jam is an annual competition that is open to all Sam's Club employees who desire to propose new products or services that would drive innovation within the firm. The innovations were scored on Technical Excellence, Creativity, Business Impact, the Depth, and an X Factor.

We were given the top 5 submissions from the 2020 Innovation Jam that made it to the finals to score. The following results were obtained after all team members scored the submissions using a blank copy of the score sheet.

Click Below to View Our Scoring.

So, what is Sam's Plan-Easy?

The Sam’s Plan-Easy proposal was a system that dynamically tailors the package suggestions for each member. The system checks for current trends in best-selling items and also takes in account for the members' purchase history.

The team emphasized that this system would eliminate members' worry about remembering to get items for events because Sam’s Plan-Easy would send reminders right from their calendar.

They also made clear that the entire process would be automated.

Sam's Plan-Easy proposed great evolutions to Sam’s Club. However, I knew Jonathan was looking for more revolutionary ideas than evolutionary ones.

But before discussing our innovation, I encouraged my team to take a step back and map out our insights into the Desires of Sam's Club that we gathered from our meet-up with Jonathan at a Sam's Club location in Plano, Texas. To offer the best innovations, I knew that we had to truly listen to the client's voice...

Empathizing With The Customer

So, What Do They Want?...(Week 2)

Insight #1: Monitoring Shrinkage.

Jonathan Saffian, the Senior Product Manager at Sam’s Club, highlighted that there was a need for a way to provide a seamless and enjoyable shopping experience for customers while also lessening shrinkage amounts.

Furthermore, Saffian explained the issue that when there are more security measures taken to reduce shrinkage, customers start to feel targeted. Basically, he emphasized that customers are assumed to be “criminals” with more sensible cameras and monitoring in place.

From this understanding, my team and I ensured to propose an idea in the future that efficiently reduces shrinkage while not simply leaving the shopping experience as a neutral experience but creating a faster and simpler shopping experience at Sam’s Club.

Insight #2: Promoting Human Adaptability to New Processes.

Another thing that Jonathan desired was to find a way to get shoppers on board with other channels of shopping other than in-person shopping. To explain, many shoppers simply stick to shopping in person rather than embracing the several channels of shopping that Sam’s Club offers.

When our team visited a Sam’s Club location in Plano, Texas, I found that there were several strategies implemented that incentivized the use of Sam’s Club’s “Scan & Go” channel of shopping. Right as I entered the store doors, an employee questioned how I was doing and if I had heard about Scan & Go. Scripting employees to spread awareness of Scan & Go reaches customers with curiosity. This was one effective way that we discovered as a method to incentivize consumers to shop in different ways. Additionally, there were posters everywhere about a sweepstake offered to consumers when they use Scan & Go.

This was another method of incentivization that I noted. Working with my team, I expanded on these methods of incentivization and brainstormed others that could be effective within Sam’s Club.

Insight #3: Innovating Revolutionary Ideas, Not Evolutionary Ones.

Jonathan made it very clear that he was looking for revolutionary ideas. At first, I was conflicted. I did not know how to go about differentiating between thinking broad and thinking big or in a revolutionary way.

However, when discussing what that meant, he explained that revolutionary ideas are ones that change the game with newness, while evolutionary ones are just advancements or improvements to a process already in place. He went on to say that revolutionary ideas lead to competitive advantages.

This was a clear desire of Jonathan, so I knew we had to propose new and competitive innovations to Sam’s Club.

Insight #4: Accelerating Their Omni-Channel Presence

Another insight that I gained was that Sam’s Club has a huge competitive advantage, being an Omni-channeled and innovative company, compared to competitors who are behind.

For example, Scan & Go was a very new and innovative feature to Walmart and Sam’s Club. Costco, a huge competitor to Sam’s Club, has stated publicly that they will not be moving forward with anything like Scan & Go because they feel that their checkout lines were already short enough. This shows that Costco is choosing to stay behind in developing and implementing new innovations within shopping, which allows Sam’s Club to shine.

I kept this in mind when proposing ideas to Jonathan and his team in the future.

(click the image to view a presentation on the competitive advantages of Sam's Club)

Insight #5: Expanding Company Partnerships

The expansion of company partnerships was an insight that I definitely did not think of too much before. However, when meeting with Jonathan Saffian at a Sam’s Club location in Plano, Texas, Jonathan explained that there were several very important partnerships within Sam’s Club with other companies, such as Microsoft.

Additionally, in a discussion with Jonathan, he has explained that he is delighted by the idea of partnerships and sees them as an area of high opportunity. I noted this insight and incorporated this consideration into future proposals to Sam’s Club.

Below is an image of our discussion with Jonathan at a Sam’s Club location in Plano, Texas.

How Do Consumers Feel? (Week 3)

Insight #6: Consumers Have Difficulty Sharing & Receiving Their Needs in an Easy & Inexpensive Manner

Empathizing with Sam’s Club members was tough. The reason why is that it is hard to get people to do surveys. It is hard to directly engage with random people. I found this to be a huge obstacle to our innovation- I knew we must hear the customers' voices. After being conflicted for a while with my team and our busy schedules, the answer came to me. In fact, the answers were all around me.

My professors, my best friends and family, my group members and their families, and many people on campus shop at Sam’s Club or shop in general. Everyone is a consumer, regardless of membership. I emphasized to my team that Sam’s Club could grow its memberships if they connect with the general consumers. This means that the customers' voices were everywhere, we just had to listen.

My mother, who lives far away in Delaware, always worries about my nutrition. She wants to care for me but feels helpless at most times because of the distance and time separating us. She even purchases “Tovola” meals, a meal servicing company, to send me to ensure I get the food I need; this can get expensive. When questioning her about what Sam’s Club could do to help people with planning, she took the innovation from an entirely new perspective that my group did not think of. She stated,

“I wish Sam’s Club had a way I could plan my care, through meals and necessities, and somehow send it to you for a cheaper price. It would be great to care for you while you are far away.”

After hearing this and reflecting on this feedback with my team and their findings, we all had a “wow” moment. From that moment, we all knew that Sam’s Plan-Easy could go so much farther; we could not only meet the needs of members but more importantly touch the hearts of the customer.

Defining The Problem Addressed

Reverse Engineering the Innovation (Week 4)

Reverse engineering their solution into a fresh problem statement was our first step in building on to and revolutionizing this concept. This is done to assist us in identifying the true core problem that their solution was attempting to solve. After reverse-engineering this innovation, we received new insights on how we may build a better and more effective solution that could change the way we plan for events.

One of the ways we do this is called the 5 Whys method:

This led to our revised problem statement:

"Customers view their shopping experience as a chore rather than an opportunity."

...

Insight #7: Stop Assuming!

This problem statement that we arrived at made me think about event planning. It can be extremely overwhelming and even when you think you've gathered everything, something always slips through the cracks. However, as I thought of other shopping experiences, I thought this problem statement had a significant flaw.

I told my group, as a shopaholic mall worker, that not all shopping is a chore. Sometimes, it is an activity to enjoy independently or socially. However, we settled on the incorrect assumption that Sam's Club is not a place to shop for fun, but it is a place to shop for necessities. As we continued, this flaw came to light.

After presenting our first ideas to Jonathan Saffian and our other stakeholders, they were wary of the word choice used in our problem statement though. We were given this question to think about.

"Is all shopping seen as a burden?"

We recognized that we were thinking too small of a scope and overgeneralizing the term ‘shopping’. We forgot to consider that, although shopping at Sam’s Club may not be a social activity or fun, we had the opportunity to revolutionize the experience to become easy, enjoyable, and engaging. These were all things we needed to consider in our next iteration.

After receiving this new insight, I held a meeting where my team brainstormed on how we may build a better and more effective solution that could change the way we send care. I laid out all of the consumer input in order to ensure that we hear customers' voices.

We were able to come to this revised problem statement:

“Consumers have the obstacle of time, effort, and distance when trying to provide support and care for their loved ones. The effort, stress, and anxiety of shopping for other people is an issue that many consumers experience.”

...

When presenting this revision and the new ideas to Jonathan, he said that we were “Spot On!”

As a leader, I am happy that we failed hard, failed proud, and acted upon the failure to succeed.

Furthermore, I was extremely proud of my hardworking and bright team.

(Click the image below to view my team's first presentation on the reverse engineering of "Sam’s Plan Easy”.)

Ideating Upon Sam's Plan-Easy

Our Revolutionary Innovation Proposals (Week 5)

Trial #1

Our initial solution focused on an event-planning system where anyone could share shopping lists, add to them, have group calendars, and message through the app about events.

(Below are a few slides that we presented. Click any for the full presentation.)

Try Again!

Trial #2

Our final solution this time focused more on an online "build your own care package" system where customers can create their own care package and send it to anyone they like.

We explained that...

Sam's Club's Care Packages can revolutionize the way shoppers support their family, friends, and community while generating extensive recurring revenue for the company.

(Below are a few slides that we presented. Click any for the full presentation.)

After presenting our final idea to Jonathan Saffian, this was his final feedback to us:

The concern of how perishable items would work with this concept.
Fridge lockers would have to be implemented at places like dorms and apartment complexes.
Difficult product to incentivize. We would have to leave a "trail" to entice customers to use this.

Thoughts For the Future

Working with Sam’s Club allowed me to embrace challenges and to have a limitless mentality of possibilities. I effectively communicated with the client, Jonathan, and managed my team effectively in order to meet the client's needs.

Managing a team effectively was one of the many things I have gained so much experience with through this partnership. Recognizing everyone's strengths and utilizing them effectively in a team are areas that I have witnessed myself improve on throughout this project so far.

Going into the Spring of 2022, my team and I are going to be formally proposing new, revolutionary, and big ideas to Sam’s Club. My team and I successfully proposed a holistic innovation upon Sam’s Plan-Easy, involving socialization, care, and satisfaction, that would revolutionize the experience of shopping at Sam’s Club.

Taking the deep insights that I have gained from the Fall of 2021 into account, I know that my team's future innovations will set new standards for shopping at Sam’s Club, providing them with huge competitive advantages beyond solely Sam’s Plan-Easy.

As The Enlighteners always remind everyone,

“The Future is Ours!”

SHYLA UX