Some shoppers cheer when their favorite store eliminates self-checkouts and promises a more personal touch at staffed checkout lanes only. Other shoppers cheer when they don’t have to deal with cashiers at all and their stores go self-checkout only.
So who’s going to cheer when their store eliminates both?
Sam’s Club shoppers may be about to find out. The warehouse club is strongly hinting, without quite confirming, that it’s looking at going Scan & Go-only in all of its nearly 600 stores, so members can scan their own items as they shop and never have to visit a traditional checkout at all.
In sharing the retailer’s “long-term vision to redefine the club model and set a new standard in retail” at a recent investor conference, Sam’s Club executives announced plans to open at least 15 new stores a year and remodel all existing stores, with its “store of the future” in Grapevine, Texas “setting the standard.”
That new-look store, which opened late last year, features “a register-free shopping experience.” Shoppers exclusively use Scan & Go in the Sam’s Club app to scan items as they add them to their cart, then pay for their purchases in the app. And then they’re done, without going through a checkout lane.
Putting two and two together, many have interpreted Sam’s plans to model its new stores after its checkout-free store to mean that eliminating all checkouts in all stores is a done deal.
But Sam’s Club is being slightly more cagey about its plans. When asked directly whether it intends to do away with traditional checkouts chainwide, a spokesperson would say only that “we’re focused on creating a more convenient, seamless shopping experience for our members — and technology plays a key role in that. As part of our broader club revitalization strategy, we’re continuing to test and learn from innovations like Scan & Go and our computer vision-powered exit technology, which are designed to reduce friction and save members’ time.”
That computer vision-powered exit technology predates the Grapevine store. It was first unveiled early last year, to replace manual receipt checks at the exit. As a shopper pushes their cart through an airport security-looking arch, cameras automatically identify each item in the cart and verify that they’ve been paid for.
So with no cashiers, and no receipt checkers, will that mean no employees? Not quite.
“We’ll continue to have the same number of associates in our clubs,” the Sam’s spokesperson explained. “Their roles are simply evolving to focus more on engaging with members and delivering personalized service throughout the club.” In addition, employees will be on hand “to assist and help members new to tools like Scan & Go.”
By not quite confirming that it will eliminate traditional checkouts altogether, Sam’s Club may be giving itself an out, in case the change is not well-received in all stores. Not all shoppers have liked it when their stores have gone self-checkout only. And shoppers who already complain that the “digital divide” is causing them to miss out on deals, are unlikely to be happy when shopping at Sam’s Club requires them to have an app.
But Sam’s Club is promising to “redesign the future of retail” – not cater to the preferences of the past. It will soon find out whether today’s shoppers are ready.
Image source: Sam’s Club
