Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is set to launch its first-ever fully digital store, allowing customers to shop and make purchases without waiting at the traditional checkout lines.
Set to open in mid-October, shoppers can use a smartphone app called Scan & Go to scan the items as they shop. At the cash counters, the company will display online-only items. The members can scan QR codes at designated counters, adding the items directly to their cart in the app for easy checkout, CNBC reported.
It will give store workers about four times more space to prepare for customers’ e-commerce orders, Sam’s Club executives pointed out. “It’s kind of the physical manifestation of a journey we’re trying to go on as a company,” Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas said.
“The idea is that over time, we will be 100% digital engagement as a business, and you’ve got to prove that things work before you scale them,” he added, hoping that the experience would give a feeling of “what it’s like to shop in the future.”
Since its launch in 1983, the membership-based club has focused on innovating various technological features, such as Scan & Go. The new 6,000-square-foot store, much bigger than the average 1,500-square-foot at other clubs, is set to reopen in the Dallas area, two years after sustaining significant damage from a tornado.
The new store will serve as a testing ground for more emerging technologies, Nicholas stated.
According to the chain, the majority of customers who joined the club in the latest quarter were millennials or Gen Z.
The company has recently unveiled several expansion initiatives, including raising hourly wages for nearly 100,000 workers ahead of the holiday season, as well as plans to open 30 new clubs over the next five years.
In the July quarter, the retailer’s sales rose by 5.2% compared to the same period last year, driven partially by a 22% year-over-year increase in e-commerce sales.
Though Sam’s Club has the same number of U.S. clubs as its rival Costco, the latter reports twice as much annual revenue. In the latest fiscal year, net sales for Sam’s Club totaled $86.2 billion, compared with Costco’s $176.63 billion.
Earlier this month, this Sam’s Club apologized to shoppers after the store was called out over payment methods it offers. The supermarket chain does not allow pay via Google or Apple.
Addressing concerns that new technology could lead to job losses, Nicholas assured that there would be no reduction in staff. Instead, some employees would be assigned new roles, he added.
