Sam's Club expands online platform to showcase regional premium brands nationwide

Sam's Club, owned by Walmart, is positioning its online storefront as a gateway for niche, high-quality local brands to reach a national audience. Greg Pulsifer, the club’s e-commerce leader, explained that the strategy focuses on curation rather than sheer breadth. A test launch of the Arkansas-based coffee line Doyenne in three Northwest Arkansas locations led to rapid expansion into over 50 clubs and online sales that nearly doubled within a month, with a quarter of orders shipped to areas without in-store stock.

The retailer reports selling about 15 tons of the beans by July’s end and notes higher repeat purchases compared with typical whole-bean customers. The model has also worked for Oklahoma City’s Kize nutrition bars, which were spotted at a local expo and then scaled nationally. Pulsifer believes the club’s longstanding trust among members removes digital barriers for emerging premium brands.