Efforts to automate store checkout operations continue to increase in variety and prevalence, but thus far, none of them has emerged as dominant. As various retailers continue testing their own (and observing others’) experiments with technology-enabled options for processing what shoppers put in their carts and charging them for those items, automatically and accurately, Sam’s Club has taken a unique perspective on the promise of automated checkout. Rather than relying on artificial intelligence (AI) to scan and ring up customers, maybe it is better suited to perform the subsequent step, that is, checking carts as people leave the store.

As warehouse clubs like Sam’s or Costco, staffers past the registers are a common sight, reviewing people’s cart against their printed receipts to ensure an accurate parallel between them. Some big box retailers like Lowe’s undertake such checks as well, though less consistently. The goal is to protect both consumers and the company, ensuring that shoppers have not been charged for items left behind on the belt while also confirming that they are not taking a “five-finger discount” on anything for which they did not pay.

This check takes substantial time, which irritates customers to a substantial extent. Shoppers generally disparage the need to stand in line twice (once to pay, once to get into the parking lot). In addition, many shoppers allege that the people in charge of the cart checks unfairly target certain customer demographics, such that they are applied more frequently to shoppers of color.

In its attempt to avoid and address both these issues, Sam’s Club wants to install automated, AI-enabled cart check frames at store exits. The structure would rapidly tally up the contents of every shopper’s cart, then compare it against that person’s electronically stored register receipt. Because the check can happen almost instantaneously, people are not slowed down any further, and because it applies to everyone, the dangerous potential for discrimination gets eliminated. The retailer plans to have the devices installed in all of its stores by the end of 2024.

The technology underlying these promising tools is very similar to that which other retailers are attempting to use to make the actual checkout step painless. But its application in this straightforward comparison of what the receipt says a customer bought and what they are leaving the store with is simpler. It thus might be more functional in the short term, with direct benefits for retailers and shoppers. Thus, while consumers continue to wait for technology that enables them to pop into a store and grab whatever they like, with their purchases automatically tallied and charged to the payment option they prefer, at least for now, they can leave warehouse clubs with their hauls without having to spend extra time confirming all they bought.

Discussion Questions

1. Are cart checks necessary? Why or why not?
2. Why are cart checks a pain point for consumers? For retailers? Does automating this step eliminate these pain points completely? 

Sources: Sopan Deb, “At Sam’s Club, a Human Will No Longer Check Your Receipt at the Door,” The New York Times, January 12, 2024; Dominick Reuter, “Sam’s Club Will Stop Checking Receipts at the Door—And Instead Use AI to Snap Photos of Your Shopping Cart,” Business Insider, January 10, 2024; Gili Malinsky and Aine Caine, “Here’s What Costco Workers Are Actually Looking for When They Check Your Receipt at the Exit,” Business Insider, August 2, 2022