Sam’s Club is getting into the pizza delivery business, the Walmart-owned warehouse retailer announced Thursday.
By the end of May, members of all Sam’s Club locations can order a Member’s Mark 16’’ Hot Baked Pizza for $8.98 for express delivery, plus delivery fees. But the pies won’t beat Domino’s Pizza to your doorstep just yet: Sam’s Club express delivery is guaranteed in “as little as three hours,” the retailer said.
Sam’s Club’s pizza delivery does have an edge on traditional restaurant delivery. Customers can add five pounds of clementines or 580 Ziploc sandwich bags or a 300-count bottle of pain reliever or any other items Sam’s Club sells with their pizza order.
Sam’s Club pizza delivery can come with a hefty price tag, however, depending on your membership tier. Delivery is free for higher-end Plus members on orders over $50 and it costs $12 for those with standard Club memberships. Tack on an extra $8 to get pizza via express delivery. (A Sam’s Club Plus membership is $110 per year, a Club membership is $50 per year.)
Sold in Sam’s Club’s in-store cafes, the pizzas, available in Cheese, Pepperoni or Four Meat, have become a “go-to for family dinners, game-day spreads and one-swipe lunches that somehow fed the whole crew,” the Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer said. But, Sam’s Club added, customers keep saying, “I wish I could get this delivered.”
“The launch of pizza delivery is more than a crave-worthy convenience,” Sam’s Club said in its announcement. “It’s the latest step in a bigger shift.”
That shift includes an expanded focus on technology and digital engagement, to bring everything from “fresh meals to pharmacy refills” to Sam’s Club members on their terms, the retailer said.
Warehouse rival Costco does not currently offer delivery of pizza or any other items from its food court.
Last week, Sam’s Club reported 27% growth in its e-commerce business during its first quarter, driven by “triple-digit growth” in store-fulfilled delivery and “double-digit growth” in pickup. More than 50% of Sam’s Club members now interact with the retailer in some digital form, the company said.
“We’re seeing growth in convenience,” Sam’s Club CEO and President Chris Nicholas told analysts, according to a transcript from financial services site AlphaSense. “We really see that convenience is something that resonates for everybody.”
Pizza delivery has changed significantly since the pandemic. Before COVID, non-pizza chains rarely delivered. When restaurant dining rooms shut down, of course, everyone from McDonald’s to independent restaurants invested in delivery operations.
That has taken business away from traditional pizza concepts, as consumers shift their ordering habits to aggregators like DoorDash and Grubhub. Fast-food pizza sales grew less than 1% last year, according to the Technomic Top 500 Chain Restaurant Report, though that number was skewed by the performance of segment leader Domino’s, whose sales rose 5.4%.
“When we talk about innovation, it’s not just about what’s new,” said Kurt Hess, Sam’s Club group director of operations and implementation. “It’s about what makes life easier for our members. Pizza delivery is a perfect example: It brings together value, convenience and one of our most-loved Café items in a way that fits how people shop today.”
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