With the launch of their new free app for iPhone, Android, and Blackberry users, Sam’s Club is helping consumers streamline shopping during the holidays and throughout the year. The app saves busy parents time and gas by eliminating unnecessary driving and frustration by allowing for shoppers to confirm in-stock availability of hot holiday items at their favorite Sam’s Club location.
The Club Map feature was helpful to a Sam’s Club newbie such as myself since it helped me navigate the interior of my club quickly by providing the layout of individual departments like electronics, office supplies, fresh food, bakery, and pharmacy. This time saving feature helps me be more efficient during my shopping trips and cuts down on the aimless wandering and browsing inevitably leads to unnecessary impulse buys.
Thanks to the Sam’s Club App, I can also do some pre-shopping from the comfort of my home and know whether or not our closest store has the items I’m looking for before venturing out. By tapping the Products icon, I’m able to scroll through the product catalog by category, search a product by name, or use a smart phone camera to scan the barcode and check the product’s online information page. Instant access to in-depth product information, images of each product, and customer reviews saves me the trouble of having to look up this information through another site on my computer.
Knowing what is available at my local Sam’s Club is helpful before venturing out. Here’s what I found by browsing through the app:
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The hot Xbox Kinect that sells with Kinect Adventures ($148.88) is out of stock at our local store but I like that the app will determine if another nearby store has one in stock with just one tap.
- A search of Bluetooth headsets as a gift for my mother-in-law yielded many results for items that Sam’s Club carries online but the particular one that I was interested in (Sony PS3 Bluetooth for $37.82) was not available in-store.
- The large box of Milk Bone dog biscuits that we always buy for the grandparents’ Labradors was in stock for $6.52.
- I probably didn’t need to know that they carry Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake and it’s available in store or the $13.98 price includes shipping if I don’t want to venture to Sam’s before Thanksgiving. Knowing that the price includes shipping is almost a little too tempting!
GIVEAWAY: Sam’s Club is challenging you to try their new Mobile App for a chance to win an iPhone IP1C iPod/iPhone Studio Series Sound System with an average retail value of $199.74.
Enter 1 of 2 ways:
1. Enter by Blog Comment: Participants with data-capable wireless handsets (aka smartphones) may enter by downloading the Sam’s Club Mobile App, trying one of the app’s following functions, and then coming back to leave a comment about their experience. Here are the different tasks you can choose to use the app for:
- Select three desired products, visiting their local Sam’s Club, scanning their products and pulling product details and reviews on those products
- Plus Members can check their account to see their available eValues and discuss the savings of those eValues
- Check product availability of an item they are wanting/needing, and viewing additional items the club has to offer
- Visiting SamsClub.com from the mobile app.
Standard data charges may apply for use of data service on your wireless handset, according to the terms of your carrier. Please consult your wireless-service provider regarding pricing plans.
2. Enter by Mail-in Card – No purchase or obligation necessary. Handprint your name, address, phone number, email address (if applicable), and date of birth, on a 3×5 card and mail to: ASC/Sam’s Club “Mobile App” Sweepstakes, 90 Rockwood Place, Rochester, NY 14610. All mail-in entries must be postmarked by November 19, 2010, and received by November 29, 2010. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, delayed, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, illegible, stolen, damaged, misdirected or postage due mail and/or entries and such mail/entries will be disqualified. No photocopies or other mechanically reproduced entries permitted.
Now that you have entered here, visit the other participating Sam’s Club Bloggers and enter on their sites for multiple chances to win!
Visit any of the participating blog sites listed below and enter their sweepstakes by posting a comment on the site regarding your experience with the Sam’s Club Mobile App function you chose. One (1) blog comment will translate to one (1) Sweepstakes entry. Multiple or duplicate blog comments will be disqualified.
Other participating sites include:
Abbreviated rules/fine print: No purchase necessary to enter or win. Open to legal residents of 50 United States and Washington D.C., who are 18 years of age and older as of November 15, 2010. Sweepstakes begins at 12:00p.m. CT on November 15, 2010 and ends at 11:59pm p.m. CT on November 19, 2010. Void where prohibited. For complete Official Rules, including free mail-in entry option and prize details, contact Sam’s West, Inc., 2101 SE Simple Savings Dr., Bentonville, AR 72716-745
Sam’s Club provided me with compensation for my participation in the Mobile Campaign as a selected Sam’s Club Tech Blogger.
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Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
©2012
So far from what I see, I think it’s perfect. I like that I was able to log in and it was able to pull up my local Sam’s where I shop and I could also check out the evalues available to me.
I just used the app to look for the Leapster Explorer, but it wasn’t available at my local club.
I think the Sam’s Club app is great! I would love to try it. Is it available on the Droid phones too??
I love this app! Just put it on my husband’s iphone and it is so cool, can’t wait to check out the Barcode scanner! Checked the Days before Christmas button and found a 46″ LCD tv for $798! Can’t believe there are even recipes!
I just tried the app and I absolutely love it. The format is unbelievable and makes it very easy to access. I love the fact that you can pull up items and see if they are available to you at your local store before you make a wasted trip. I have yet to try the scanning feature, but plan on it in the very near future.
kycutie626@yahoo.com
I visited SamsClub.com from my phone and was impressed by how quickly it loaded up.
bonggamom@yahoo.com
Had to use the fiance’s phone for this. Luckily, he shares and doesn’t mind. Better still, since he does all my heavy lifting, using this app means avoiding wasted trips. Very convenient.
this app is great! now i can figure out what i need while waiting to pick up my kids from school!
melanie(dot)myatt(at)gmail(dot)com
I’m a bit of an app addict, but never even thought to look for one for Sam’s! We shop there at least twice a month (sometimes more) for our family of 7 – it’s an essential for us! How awesome to see that I can use this app to maximize my trip there by searching for specific items beforehand. In trying the app, I also like how I can browse certain categories and get general ideas of what I might find, just in case I’m needing a gift (like…say…for Christmas!), but I’m not sure what I can find at Sam’s. By plugging in to my local club, I can see what’s there and what’s not. I love this!
Great app, I don’t live hear a Sam’s club, but can purchase on line. Useful app for navigating your shopping experience!
This is exactly what I was looking for the other day at the mall!!! So glad to see the stores are finally getting in w/the the times! I LOVE that I can see if the product I want is there BEFORE I physically go to get it.
Does this count? I used my sister’s iPhone to see if the newly opened Sam’s in Woodbridge to look for a new TV, and then realized I didn’t know the difference between LCD and LED so needed to do more research. They did not have knitting needles or wooden beads, which wasn’t a surprise, but I wondered if they had craft supplies.
Not sure if this is still open, but I just heard about it through a Big Tent e-mail this morning. Don’t see a winner announced so hopefully I’m not too late!
I love how you can access links for phone number, directions, and the website all in one place. Since I may have a different agenda each time I search for a location, this is a nice “one stop shopping” feature.