Sam's Club makes major checkout change Costco rejected

• Sam's Club wants to fix a major member pain point.

• It's doing so by embracing controversial technology.

• After a pilot, the new technology is now being rolled out company-wide.

Every retailer faces a challenge when it comes to checkout.

They can opt for traditional checkout where a worker scans every item. That's expensive, and lines can pile up during busier times.

Companies can also opt for self-checkout, where customers scan their own items.

Consumers have mixed feelings on self-checkout:

• 77% of shoppersprefer self-checkout due to its speed and efficiency.
  Source: investor.ncr.com.

• 41% of Americansalmost always use self-checkout when available, citing reasons including:
  62% for efficiency44% for shorter lines25% for control over bagging19% for privacy and social anxiety Source: Capital One Shopping

• 66% of U.S. consumersfavor self-service kiosks over staffed checkouts
  Source: PYMNTS.com

Self-checkout comes with theft risks

While the majority of people do prefer self-checkout, the technology comes with an increased risk of theft, both accidental and intentional.

• 15% of self-checkout usersreport having stolen an item; of these, 44% plan to do it again.

• 69% of consumersbelieve it's easier to steal from a self-checkout kiosk than from a cashier.

• 33% of self-checkout theftsare accidental, such as failing to notice when an item doesn't scan.
  Source: Capital One Shopping

But despite those numbers, the self-checkout industry has grown.

"The global self-checkout systems market size was estimated at USD 4.9 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 10.49 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 13.6% from 2025 to 2030," Grandview Research shared. "The growth of the self-checkout systems market is being driven by several key factors, primarily centered around the increasing demand for automation and improved customer experience in the retail sector."

Sam's Club adds self-checkout

While Costco has largely phased out self-checkout, Walmart's Sam's Club has embraced a version of it. The company offers Scan & Go, which is self-checkout through its app.

It had been testing that technology in select locations, but it has recently begun rolling it out across the entire chain. The company explained how the technology worked in a 2024 press release.

Scan & Go uses the Sam's Club app to track and charge customers for the items in their cart.

"The technology is used to seamlessly confirm members have paid for all items in their shopping carts – without requiring an associate to check members' purchases before leaving the club," the company shared.