Any Sam's Club member is familiar with the lines that form at the exits of big-box stores during busy shopping hours as customers wait for employees to check their receipts and confirm their purchases.
The company now says new technology powered by artificial intelligence will eliminate these bottlenecks at clubs across the country by the end of the year.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, the Walmart division introduced a new AI-powered scanning system at store exits that takes an image of the cart and confirms payment for all items in a member's basket. Announced.
Sam's has since announced this week that the new technology will be rolled out in 20% of its stores and installed in each of its 600 locations by the end of 2024.
According to the company, at the 120 stores that have introduced AI scanners to date, more than half of customers have been directed to the store, and waiting times for all members have been reduced by 23%.
In a winning announcement, Sam's Club said the rapid deployment of new internally developed AI exit technology represents the largest implementation of AI-powered technology for members in the retail industry.
The company also harshly criticized its competitors, without naming them, saying: “The retailer's announcement that it will reach the milestone of deploying it in 20% of its clubs in the first quarter comes as other retailers have struggled to implement similar technology at scale. In addition to starting early pilots, there are no plans to improve the customer experience through checkout or exit technology. ”
The retailer said customers have long rated potentially long waits at exits as a “pain point” and this new technology will only streamline the customer experience. Sam's employees will have more time to support customers, rather than staffing the exits. .