Sam’s Club’s Ryan Burns on navigating the future of retail media

It seems likely that few executives have thought as deeply about the shopping experience as Ryan Burns. As head of strategy for Sam’s Club’s Member Access Platform (MAP), he is responsible for ensuring a seamless experience for Sam’s Club members.

Today, the retail media industry is advancing toward Retail Media 3.0, emphasizing seamless integration between digital and physical shopping. For Burns, this entails bridging the gap between online and in-club shopping experiences by leveraging Sam’s Club’s extensive first-party data.

In this conversation, Burns unpacks the key elements of Sam’s Club MAP’s strategy and explains what Retail Media 3.0 means for advertisers trying to build omnichannel campaigns.

Retail media is about surfacing what the consumer wants at any given time. How do you use data to drive sales at the same time as driving long-term loyalty?

Retail media works best when it enhances the shopping experience. With our membership model, for instance, Sam’s Club can use first-party member deterministic data to create meaningful, high-impact advertising experiences whether online, in store or off-site.

We use purchase history, demographics and basket size to deploy advanced targeting techniques — delivering the right ads at the right moment, which makes product discovery easier for members. Beyond immediate sales, our goal is to build trust and add value for our members — ensuring ads add value instead of feeling intrusive.

You’ve talked about Retail Media 3.0. What does this look like to you?

To me, Retail Media 3.0 is the evolution from digital-only strategies into building true omnichannel experiences. Instead of simply increasing digital ad volume, Retail Media 3.0 focuses on enhancing relevance. For example, in-store digital displays, self-checkout ad placements and interactive mobile experiences ensure brands reach customers when they are most likely to convert. These emerging formats signal a shift from traditional digital campaigns to omnichannel engagement strategies that maximize impact.

Sam’s Club has taken this approach further by integrating advertising within transactional touchpoints like its Scan & Go feature. Members using Scan & Go see display ads within the app, which can help them easily find more items while they shop in-club. This not only enhances the shopping experience but also provides advertisers with an opportunity to connect with high-intent shoppers in a seamless way.

Since launch, 71% of the members reached via Scan & Go display ads were incremental to the non-Scan & Go ads tactics, suggesting our ads are reaching members who were previously unexposed to MAP ads. Scan & Go display ads also drive 10x higher CTR compared to non-Scan & Go display ads with a 15.5% average sales lift.

How is the membership model different from the more traditional model of mass retailers?

The fundamental difference is that the membership model is built on loyalty, engagement and long-term value rather than one-time transactions. Our members aren’t just occasional shoppers, they’ve made the choice to join. That means they have a higher commitment level and trust in the brand.

Unlike traditional retailers that rely on fragmented or probabilistic data, a membership model provides deterministic, first-party data — allowing advertisers to reach shoppers with precision rather than estimation.

Another key difference is measurement. Because members log in to shop online and scan their membership cards in-club, we can uniquely attribute closed-loop sales. Advertisers don’t have to guess whether their campaigns are working; they get a clear, data-backed view that connects ad exposure to real-world sales.

How do you measure success beyond standard performance metrics?

Traditional retail media metrics often focus on ROAS to provide deeper insights into why campaigns succeed and how brands can make every dollar work harder. But it doesn’t tell the whole story. While ROAS can be an effective strategy, it can sometimes overprioritize a brand’s most loyal customers who are already likely to buy, rather than capturing incremental sales or new customer acquisition.

That’s why we take a broader, full-funnel approach that considers not just return on ad spend, but also engagement, new-to-brand conversions and long-term member value.

The most important metrics are those that align with your retail media network’s specific value proposition and the advertiser’s goals. Everyone has created their own version of what a retail media network looks like, and they each have to figure out what value they provide to their advertisers and measure around that.