Sam’s Club doesn’t win by carrying everything, it wins by choosing the right things. We’re joined by Kaity Whitmire, who leads the wellness business at Sam’s Club (HBA, OTC, and Baby), to unpack how curation, trust, and “more newness more often” turn a complex category into a simpler shopping experience for real families.
We talk about what member obsession looks like at shelf and online, why wellness is a need-state intensive space, and how trends like collagen, creatine, and protein are shaping what shoppers expect next (fiber is coming). Katie explains why a curated assortment can feel like a treasure hunt while still reducing choice overload, and how trusted retailers can help cut through the noise of social media claims and endless marketplace listings by making the complex simple.
If you’re on the brand or supplier side, you’ll get a clear view into what strong partnerships require: transparency, a strategic mindset, and a digital-first approach built for scale. Kaity shares why the club channel can be a brand-building engine, how price pack architecture can start with a club pack and ladder into other formats, and how testing online or in a handful of clubs can shape a smarter go-to-market plan.
We also dig into the omnichannel side of the member journey: why e-commerce still needs editing, how content and member reviews build confidence, and why Scan and Go changes the value equation by saving time. If you care about retail merchandising, wellness innovation, and the future of curated commerce, this one is packed with practical insight. Subscribe, share this with a retail friend, and leave a review so more people can find the show.
More About this Episode
Curation Secrets: Inside the Merchant Mind
The retail landscape is shifting beneath our feet. For those of us who live and breathe this industry, the excitement isn't just about the products on the shelf but about the fundamental transformation of how we serve the people who walk through our doors. In the world of warehouse clubs, we often talk about value, but the definition of that word is evolving. It is no longer just about the lowest price per ounce; it is about the intersection of quality, innovation, and a frictionless experience.
Leading the wellness category at Sam's Club has given me a front row seat to this evolution. We are currently operating in a space where the member is more informed, more health conscious, and more demanding of transparency than ever before. To meet that demand, we have to move beyond the traditional role of a buyer and embrace the mindset of a curator.
The Power of the Curated Environment
One of the most significant advantages we have in the club channel is our limited shelf space. While that might sound counterintuitive in an age of endless digital aisles, it is actually our greatest strength. In a typical retail environment, a shopper might face forty different types of toothpaste or fifty different multivitamins. That creates "choice paralysis." The member has to do the heavy lifting of researching which one is the best value or which one has the cleanest ingredients.
At Sam's Club, we take that burden off the member. We are maniacally focused on item selection. My team and I view our buy plan like a family album; we are deeply attached to these items because we have poured our energy into ensuring they are the best of the best. If there are only two options on the shelf for a specific need state, our members trust that we have already done the vetting, the price negotiations, and the quality checks. We drive simplicity by making the hard choices for them.
This curation extends to our digital presence as well. Even on our website or app, where the "aisles" could technically be infinite, we maintain a curated mindset. Member behavior shows that they rarely look past the first page of results. Therefore, our digital strategy is not about having a long tail of endless products but about using technology to put the right item in front of the right member at the right time.
Wellness as the Frontier of Innovation
The wellness space is currently on the precipice of greatness. It is consistently one of the top five things on our members' minds when they enter the club. What is even more fascinating is how wellness trends are now serving as a lead indicator for the rest of the store.
For years, the wellness category has been the proving ground for ingredients like collagen, high protein, and fiber. We are now seeing those functional benefits migrate into every other category, from chips and bars to yogurts and beverages. Wellness is no longer an isolated department; it is a lifestyle that permeates the entire shopping basket.
Our philosophy is simple: more newness, more often. We want our members to feel like they are on a treasure hunt. They pay a membership fee to shop with us, and we owe it to them to provide the latest emerging trends with a value proposition they cannot find anywhere else. Whether it is preventative health or a new natural care brand, we are constantly asking, "What's next in the evolution of this item?"
Building Strategic Partnerships
For brands looking to enter the club channel, the old myths are being debunked. There is a historical notion that a brand needs to own a massive percentage of the market before they can even have a conversation with a Sam's Club merchant. That is simply not true. We are looking for great items that solve problems, regardless of the brand's current size.
A great supplier relationship is strategic, not transactional. If we are just swapping purchase orders, we aren't serving the member. A true partner is transparent; they know what we know, and we know what they know. They must be as obsessed with the member experience as we are.
We often work with brands to architect their go to market strategy. This might mean starting 100% online to identify exactly who the customer is and where they live before moving into a physical club. It involves designing price pack architecture that makes sense for a club environment from day one. When a brand starts with us, they have the opportunity to potentially be 100% of the assortment for their specific niche. That is a compelling growth story for any entrepreneur.
The Frictionless Journey
Innovation isn't restricted to the product inside the box. It also applies to how the member gets that product into their home. The retail journey must be frictionless. This is why technologies like Scan and Go are so transformative. When a member can scan items as they shop and bypass the checkout line entirely, we are giving them back their most valuable asset: time.
Value is defined by the member as price, quality, and experience. If a member has to wait in a long line, the value of the savings they found on a jar of vitamins begins to diminish. We have to be excellent at every touchpoint, from the digital research phase to the moment the product arrives at their doorstep through express delivery.
Staying Curious in a Changing World
The retail world will never be as slow again as it is today. To stay ahead, we must remain relentlessly curious. I often tell my team that what we did yesterday is not good enough for today. That curiosity is what separates a good merchant from a great one.
Staying curious means listening to the member directly. We utilize a member community where we can ask for feedback on everything from packaging design to the texture of a gummy vitamin. If the gummies clump at the bottom of the jar, that is a failure in the member experience, and we need to fix it.
It also means looking outside our own walls. I spend an hour every night in what I call my "hour of life study," checking social commerce, reading Reddit threads, and looking at other retailers to see how people are talking about their needs. You have to be in the trenches of shopper psychology to understand the "why" behind the buy.
Looking Toward the Future
We are on a significant roll right now. The momentum at Sam's Club is fueled by a culture of entrepreneurship where merchants are empowered to drive their business from the ground up. Over the next few months alone, we have over a hundred new items hitting the wellness space.
We are hunting for the next big innovation. We want the brands that are on the edge, the ones that are thinking about better for you ingredients and cleaner labels. Our members are hungry for products that solve their problems and fit their lifestyles.
Retail is personal. When I walk down the aisles and see a member react to an item we've spent months developing, it matters. Whether they love it or have critiques, that engagement is what drives us. We are here to serve, to curate, and to constantly reinvent the shopping experience for the modern family. The journey is far from over, and the best is yet to come.
