Item Lookup serves as a centralized, intelligent search engine for all item-related data at Sam’s Club. Designed to provide quick, reliable, and structured item insights—including attributes, team ownership, and performance metrics—it fosters better collaboration and accelerates decision-making.
300
Happy Users
14+
Reports Consolidated
780,000 hrs
Hours saved
Merchants are the buyers for Sam’s Club, their responsibilities include; selecting the item assortment sold in clubs, negotiating deals with suppliers and managing inventory. They use multiple different tools on a daily basis to review data and make informed decisions,
Through multiple rounds of intensive merchant interviews our overall learnings were that merchants faced challenges with fragmented data sources, administrative overhead in managing items, and inconsistencies across multiple tools. The lack of a unified search experience resulted in inefficiencies and data discrepancies.
We began our design process by observing our merchant's daily workflows which consisted of a series of questions they would ask themselves.
The answers to these questions were spread across multiple different dashboards and tools.
Mission (the what & how): To create a Google-like search experience that quickly answers item-level questions and enables seamless, informed actions—simplifying complexity and unlocking efficiency across teams.
Vision (the why & where): To be the ultimate destination for all item-related information—a centralized, intelligent hub that empowers teams to understand, manage, and take action on any item with confidence.
Through multiple wireframing, prototyping, and testing cycles, we refined the search experience based on feedback from merchants, data analysts, and partner teams. Collaboration with engineering and product teams ensured improvements in search relevance, data integration, and usability.
Lookup now allows merchants to access item data, attributes, and key metrics within seconds. The intuitive interface reduces search friction, enhances data accuracy, and enables faster decision-making.
Future iterations plan to include AI-powered search capabilities for predictive recommendations and integrating supplier, marketing, and people data for a truly unified search experience.
©2025 by Namitha Karupakula.