BJ's Wholesale Club is built around a powerful purpose: “We take care of the families who depend on us.”
For more than 40 years, BJ’s has brought its purpose to life by delivering unbeatable value and convenience, from savings on the weekly grocery run and easy-to-access coupons to low-priced fuel. Today, BJ’s serves more than 8 million members across 250+ clubs, with a tenured renewal rate of 90%. That kind of loyalty raises the bar. As members increasingly shop across BJ’s clubs, BJs.com and the BJ’s app, the digital experience needs to deliver the same value, convenience and member-first experience they expect in the club. That means making it easier to discover the right products, find savings, and complete their shopping trip.
BJ's needed a way to bring that same experience into digital: personalized product discovery, practical support, savings guidance, and more relevant, helpful interactions over time.
That is where Bev, BJ’s AI shopping assistant, came in. Bev, named after Beverly Jean, the daughter of the company's first president, is powered by delight.ai’s conversational AI platform. Bev helps make parts of the digital member experience more connected, supporting members as they discover products, find savings, and access helpful information.
One Bev for the whole member journey
BJ’s members can shop online, pick up in club, get same-day delivery, scan prices, access coupons, and move through the club faster with time-saving tools like ExpressPay. Public data suggests digitally engaged members are about 2x more valuable than club-only members.
That growth reinforced the importance of delivering a digital experience that is as helpful and member-focused as the experience in BJ’s clubs. For those digital moments, the next interface for the member experience looks less like a search box and more like a conversation with an agent that knows the member, the purpose, and the club.
Most AI projects split that relationship apart: a shopping bot here, a support bot there, a membership bot somewhere else. A member doesn't live in those boundaries, and neither does the value of their BJ’s membership. A product question can become a basket. A support moment handled well can become proof the membership was worth it. BJ's needed one Bev for all of it.
So BJ's partnered with delight.ai to build an AI concierge that could work across shopping, support, and everything in between, carrying the same member context through every conversation.
Bob Eddy, BJ's Chairman and CEO, described Ask Bev on the company's earnings call as designed for "more personalized, intuitive, and efficient product discovery and support." For members, those aren't two different things. They're one relationship.
"Whether a member is browsing for a grill, looking up club hours, or asking about a renewal, they're talking to the same Bev. That's how a real member-team member relationship is supposed to feel."
— Scott Vandegrift, VP of Product, BJ's Wholesale Club
What we built together
Working with delight.ai, BJ's began where the member need was clearest: product discovery.
A member can ask Bev the way they would ask a great team member: "I'm planning a holiday party. What should I get?" Bev brings that team member-like guidance into the shopping flow, translating intent into products, savings, and next steps. The launch covered four areas:
- Personalized product discovery: Bev searches, recommends, and adds to cart based on what members actually buy.
- Coupon intelligence: Bev helps members find applicable savings before checkout instead of leaving value hidden in the app.
- Membership guidance: Bev explains benefits and helps members understand the value of their tier.
- Personalization: Bev addresses each member in a personalized way throughout the entire experience, from the first welcome message to their final checkout.
Early usage showed that members were not just asking questions then leaving. Bev became a meaningful part of the shopping journey. Members who engaged with it were more active across BJ’s, suggesting Bev can deepen relationships and help members get more from their membership.
Member care: Where every moment counts
Shopping is where members find value. Support is where they feel cared for.
Bev brings the same helpfulness from shopping into those care moments. It can help members check on a late order, start a return, untangle a membership question, or move to a live agent with the conversation context intact.
With membership as the foundation of the BJ’s business, care is part of the value members come back for. Every helpful answer, smooth handoff, and surfaced benefit makes BJ’s feel easier to rely on. When Bev helps someone resolve a delivery question, find a reward, or better understand their benefits, it turns an ordinary support moment into a moment of member care.
Bev support spans three key areas:
- Order support & live escalation: Members get real-time help with order status, pickup details, and same-day delivery updates, with a seamless handoff to a live agent when they need one, conversation context intact so no one starts over.
- Membership & account care: Members get clear answers about membership benefits, account details, renewals, and ways to get more value from their membership.
- Benefit discovery: Members find and use benefits they may not know they have, from rewards to fuel savings, turning unused perks into value they can feel.
"Bev gives us a new way to help members across the journey, from finding the right product to getting more value out of their membership. It makes the experience feel more personal, more useful, and more connected."
— Scott Vandegrift, VP of Product, BJ's Wholesale Club
What comes next: A smarter member relationship
As Bev expands across BJ’s digital experience, it has the potential to become more proactive and relevant by drawing on available member and shopping context, such as membership details, active online orders, and relevant offers. Over time, this could help Bev surface the right information and next step at the moment it is most useful.
Delight.ai offers functionality to build this smarter member relationship. Memory can turn every conversation Bev has into context for the next one. For You Conversations can turn that context into outreach members actually want: a reminder when a coupon is about to expire, a nudge when something they buy regularly is back in stock, a renewal note that shows exactly how much they saved this year.
"The opportunity isn’t just answering questions. It’s using a better understanding of how members shop with us to support them more effectively, whether they’re in the app, on the site or in the club."
For BJ’s, that’s what membership has always been about: taking care of the families who depend on them. Bev can help BJ’s extend that member-first experience across more digital shopping moments.
