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In today’s retail landscape, growth is more about trust, which ultimately leads to traffic. For membership businesses, the stakes are even higher.
The implications and opportunities of this is what the guests discuss on this episode of The Speed of Culture. Matt Britton speaks with Diana Marshall, EVP and Chief Experience Officer at Sam’s Club, live from CES 2026. The conversation moves beyond surface-level retail trends into something more fundamental: how to build an experience model that justifies membership, leverages AI responsibly, and scales without losing its human core.
Tune into the latest episode or read the transcript below to learn more. Here are some top takeaways:
Experience as the Competitive Edge
For decades, retail competed primarily on price and assortment. Diana makes it clear those are indeed still table stakes, but they are no longer enough.
A year ago, Sam’s Club formally built an experience organization. A first within the Walmart enterprise. The ambition was to create effortless, personal experiences that bring joy and foster community.
That word “effortless” is deliberate. Retail once focused on removing friction. Now the goal is higher, because it’s not just about eliminating pain points. Instead, the goal is now about taking work off the member entirely.
From Scan & Go to express delivery to digital engagement across more than half of its membership base, Sam’s Club is engineering moments that feel seamless rather than transactional.
Membership as an ROI Contract
Unlike traditional retailers, Sam’s Club customers pay to belong. That fundamentally changes expectations.
Diana frames membership as an upfront contract. Members give Sam’s Club money first. In return, they expect value, access, surprise, and consistency. In short, ROI.
Given this give-and-take dynamic, it’s not enough to offer bulk savings. Members need visibility into benefits, delivery options, digital tools, and exclusive experiences they might not otherwise notice.
Membership also unlocks something powerful: closed-loop data.
Because Sam’s Club operates on a membership model, it can track behavior, purchases, engagement, and response across channels. That full attribution model fuels smarter personalization and sharper decision-making ranging across different areas, like marketing to merchandising to media.
You Can’t Scale Member Experience Without Associate Experience
One of the most important insights Diana shares is deceptively simple: you cannot build a great member experience without building a great associate experience first.
In an era obsessed with automation, Sam’s Club is investing heavily in its people. The focus is on complete onboarding, leadership conversations, tools, and empowerment. The logic here is that technology can accelerate execution, but human interactions create loyalty.
When associates are supported, trained, and trusted, the in-club experience improves naturally. It’s a reminder that even in a tech-powered retail future, human energy remains a multiplier.
AI and the Rise of the “Next Best Action” Era
Diana describes the work her team has done to unify member data and build next-best-action engines that personalize experiences across digital touchpoints. From homepage customization to acquisition partnerships with OpenAI, the company is testing how consumers shop in an AI-powered world.
With membership at the core, Sam’s Club can test, learn, and measure quickly adapting messaging, offers, and discovery pathways in near real time.
But what stands out is the tone. AI is positioned as an enabler, not a headline. It accelerates learning. It enhances relevance. It removes friction. It does not, in any way, replace judgment.
Leadership in a High-Speed Culture
Perhaps the most enduring takeaway from the episode has little to do with technology. Diana’s leadership mantra — “Be kind. Be curious. Be inclusive. Tell the truth always.” — reflects a values-based approach to scaling teams inside a fast-moving enterprise.
She speaks openly about imperfection, risk-taking, and learning publicly from mistakes. In her view, growth requires pushing boundaries. If you’re getting everything right, you’re not taking big enough swings.
What This Means for Retail Leaders
This conversation outlines a blueprint for modern membership-driven growth:
- Experience must move from frictionless to effortless
- Membership creates an accountability loop rooted in ROI
- Closed-loop data enables true personalization at scale
- Associate experience fuels member loyalty
- AI works best when paired with human leadership
For marketers, operators, and retail innovators, the message is clear: differentiation will not come from price alone. It will come from how intelligently and how humanely brands use data to serve their communities.
