Many retailers incorporate artificial intelligence into their checkout processes to speed up lines and crack down on theft. Now, the membership warehouse Sam's Club introduces AI-backed checkout services that may cut down on awkward receipt checker interactions as customers exit the store.
What's the change coming to Sam's Club checkout?
On Friday, Sam's Club President and CEO Chris Nicholas told guests at Walmart Inc.’s 2025 Investment Community Meeting that the warehouse will be completely ditching checkout lanes in all 600 stores in favor of AI-backed Scan & Go.
Sam's Club tested out Scan & Go in April 2024 at the Grapevine Sam's Club in North Texas.
The technology allows shoppers to use their phones to scan and pay for the items in their cart as they shop. Shoppers can also scan online-only items in-store, which the warehouse's e-commerce centers fulfill. When they're done shopping, shoppers don't have to wait in a long line.
Instead, shoppers using Scan & Go walk through AI scanners that check whether all the items in the cart have been scanned and paid for. That means no more waiting for a human worker to manually check off items on a receipt with a Sharpie.
Scan & Go goes beyond previous AI-backed self-checkout cameras installed in 2019 by Sam's Club's parent company, Walmart, which flag potential missed scans. These AI-backed cameras alert self-checkout and loss prevention workers, who are then expected to confront the shopper themselves.
Scan & Go may also crack down on workers confronting shoppers who they believe haven't scanned all of their items. The Daily Dot previously reported on a Sam's Club parent company Walmart shopper who says a worker loudly accused him of not scanning a bag of charcoal in self-checkout.
Shoppers say Scan & Go is a hit
Several shoppers share their experience using Scan & Go on TikTok—many of whom say the process cut down their shopping and checkout time significantly.
"I don't know why anybody would not use it and instead rather wait in a line an hour long," TikToker MelRae (@melraemotherhood) says. "It's super simple."
Another TikToker, Keri (@spill_it_mom), says Saturday shopping at Sam’s Club “wasn’t too bad, especially with using Scan & Go in their app.”
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