The trepid supermarket queue may soon be a thing of the past. Sam’s Club has unveiled AI technology that lets shoppers walk out without scanning a single item, tackling two persistent retail problems: impatient customers abandoning purchases and losses from theft or missed scans at self-checkouts.
The Walmart-owned chain has introduced ‘Just Go’ at its Grapevine, Texas location—technology that automatically detects what customers take and charges them directly through their mobiles or cards.
Robot Workers and Pizza-Making Machines
‘This is one of the fastest, most scalable transformations happening in retail today,’ said Chris Nicholas, Sam’s Club CEO. ‘We’re investing with intention — in our fleet, our associates and the member experience — to become the world’s best club retailer.’
The Texas flagship goes beyond checkout-free shopping, featuring vertical tyre carousels, automated forklifts, and a pizza-making robot in the café. The company described it in December as ‘a place where human-centered design and technology meet convenience and discovery, offering a glimpse into the future of retail.’
While Sam’s plunges into this retail revolution, competitor Costco remains committed to traditional tills with no plans to adopt similar technology. Even parent company Walmart seems cautious, using the Grapevine store as a testing ground before wider implementation.
‘Just Go,’ Does It Really Work?
Several brands around the world have decided to incorporate similar AI checkouts in their stores to facilitate life for their customers.
One of the biggest examples of this is Amazon‘s ‘Just Walk Out’ technology, in the entrance customers can use a mobile wallet or a card as a ‘key’, then in the store, the AI uses cameras and sensors to identify what the person is grabbing from the shelves and automatically charges them when leaving the store.
Jon Jenkins, vice president of ‘Just Walk Out‘ made a publication explaining how the technology works, Jenkins stated that the mission for the technology is ‘for retailers, the new AI system makes Just Walk Out faster, easier to deploy, and more efficient. For shoppers, this means worry-free shopping at even more third-party checkout-free stores worldwide.’
Another brand that has decided to open a ‘smart store’ is OXXO, the biggest cornershop chain in Mexico opened the first ‘OXXO Smart’ at the university Tecnológico de Monterrey (TEC), the technology of Grab N’ Go implemented was the first in Latin America, allowing students to buy their daily needs in a quick manner without having to do a line or be late to their classes.
In an interview with IBTimes UK, Rogelio Diaz, a student at TEC said ‘it’s a great service, super efficient, there were no lines, I walk in and in 15 seconds I’m out of there, the only “problem” I’ve had is that they didn’t charge me for something once, but I used the service daily so it’s pretty great.’ The Smart store has become one of the pillars of the university as a statement for innovation in Mexico.
Retail’s High-Stakes Game of Follow the Leader
Though Amazon launched its checkout-free technology in 2018, it hadn’t been tested in large-scale retail until Sam’s Club’s bold move. This Texas experiment opens uncharted territory in how shops operate.
As the Grapevine trial unfolds, the retail industry faces a crucial question: Does this represent a fundamental shift in shopping, or merely a flashy but impractical innovation? Will other retailers view this as an existential threat requiring immediate response, or wait to see if shoppers truly embrace a queue-free future?
For now, Sam’s Club is betting big that AI-powered shopping is the way forward—where grabbing items and walking straight out isn’t shoplifting, but simply how tomorrow’s retail works.
The system’s ability to accurately track and charge for items could significantly reduce inventory losses that cost retailers billions annually. By simultaneously improving customer experience and reducing shrinkage, Sam’s Club hopes to create a winning formula.
Whether this becomes the new standard or remains a niche offering will depend on customer adoption and competitor response. Either way, the retail checkout experience appears poised for its biggest revolution since the barcode scanner.
