Sam’s Club uses AI to verify store receipts

Sam’s Club is streamlining the process of exiting its stores with the help of artificial intelligence and computer vision.

The warehouse club retailer, a division of Walmart Inc., is extending the "Scan and Go" mobile payment solution that it debuted in its stores in 2016, which allows shoppers to use their mobile Sam’s Club app to capture purchases as they shop and bypass the traditional checkout line when they leave with their selected items.

Now after a customer completes payment at a register or via Scan & Go, a combination of in-house-developed computer vision and digital technology deployed in the exit area of the store captures images of carts and verifies payment for all items within a member’s basket. 

With the AI technology constantly learning and improving across thousands of exit transactions at multiple locations, Sam’s Club said it will continue iterating and enhancing the technology as rollout continues. The retailer has deployed the solution at more than 120 stores, or over 20% of its total store fleet, since first announcing it in January 2024.

In stores where the technology has been deployed, Sam’s Club says more than half of shoppers are experiencing friction-free exit, leaving the store 23% faster that customers using traditional receipt verification. Sam’s Club plans to deploy the exit technology to all of its stores by the end of 2024.

Other new solutions Sam’s Club is rolling out include an automated digital cake ordering system that lets customers customize a cake, add it to their cart, schedule cake pickup and shop for other groceries and supplies in a single transaction. The retailer has also added other new features to its shopper app, such as an A.I.-powered "Did You Forget" prompt that helps a customer remember their favorite items.

On the employee side, the retailer said it has developed suite of unique apps that put access to millions of pieces of data into the hands of store associates. These include a mobile employee app, called “Own Your Inventory,”  which receives automated inventory actions and reports from the scanning tower delivered to associates digitally. 

"I’m incredibly proud of the innovation and dedication of our team to deploy this member experience technology at scale," said Todd Garner, chief product officer at Sam’s Club. "Both exit technology and Scan & Go are driving new levels of convenience and raising member satisfaction among members. What distinguishes Sam’s Club from our competitors is our ability to seamlessly deploy this technology at scale across our nearly 600 stores nationwide. Whether it's a single item or a cartful, we're revolutionizing the checkout experience."

Based in Bentonville, Ark., Sam’s Club is a division of Walmart Inc. operating nearly 600 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.