AI is coming for the receipt-checkers at Sam's Club, which is now using AI for the task.
First announced in CES 2024 in January, Sam's Club rolled out automated receipt-checking technology at 120 stores in Q1 and plans to do the same in all 600 stores by year's end.
The AI-powered vision tech speeds up exit times by 23% and improved the shopping experience "almost immediately upon deployment," according to Walmart, which owns Sam's Club.
The announcement says "more than half of members are getting the friction-free exit experience." The other half may be hitting some snags on the way out, but Sam's Club says the AI is "constantly learning and improving across thousands of exit transactions at multiple locations."
(Credit: Walmart)The seamless exit process could help differentiate Sam's Club from competitors BJ's Wholesale Club and Costco. Sam's Club says "other retailers have struggled to deploy similar technology at scale, with some abandoning efforts."
Sam's Club may have a leg up, as it built the technology on its existing Scan & Go product, a mobile experience where customers scan products as they shop and then present a QR code at the door rather than a paper receipt.
"Now after a member completes payment at a register or via Scan & Go, a combination of computer vision and digital technology deployed in the exit area of the club captures images of carts and verifies payment for all items within a member’s basket," Walmart says.
Human receipt-checkers may monitor the process as it rolls out, but their positions will likely be eliminated if all goes according to plan. Or, in corporate speak, it will allow them to "refocus their time and expertise to assisting members and ensuring they have an enjoyable shopping experience," Walmart says.
Sam's Club encountered financial challenges in the past, which led to it closing 63 stores in 2018.
Amazon recently dropped "Just Walk Out" systems that allowed for cashier-free checkouts in US Amazon Fresh stores in favor of "smart" shopping carts that let customers scan their own items.