US membership-only wholesale retailer Sam’s Club – part of Walmart – is the latest retailer to join the club of shops looking to offer customer scan and go tech to bypass checkout queues – and lure more people in.
Following a two-and-a-half year trial in 240 outlets across the US, the retailer is now rolling out the service to all its 650 stores and all its customers as part of a major app update.
The app update also allows shoppers to easily re-order frequently bought items, arrange click and collect and sort deliveries.
It will also allow mobile payments – something that makes the process even more slick and starts to make it look more like the Amazon Go experience. Shoppers can not only now order and collect, or scan as they take things off the shelf using their mobile, they can also pay. This means that they can skip checkout lines all together and simply leave, having shown their e-receipt – also on the app – to the greeter at the door.
“We are always looking for ways to optimize checkout for improved speed of service and member experience,” explains Dianna Gee, spokeswoman for Sam’s Club.
“This new technology means an improved interface that is more user-friendly and simple, a paperless process, improved bar code scanning and the ability for members to skip the registers and make a payment directly from their mobile phone,” she continues. “These enhancements mean a much easier and more convenient experience that saves our members time.”
Shauna Bowen, vice president of operations transformation at Sam’s Club adds: “The primary focus is to elevate the member experience by making the checkout process faster as well as making it more convenient for the member.”