Dominick Reuter/Business Insider
I visited Texas to see Sam’s Club’s store of the future. It was brimming with tech.
October 22, 20240
Shoppers rolled in past a custom mural made by a local Grapevine artist.
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New members can sign up or get info at the desk, which also handles returns.
It’s increasingly common to see people carrying their phones in their hands while shopping, and Sam’s Club leaned into that trend — hard.
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Several shoppers told BI they had been using the mobile app to scan and pay for purchases at other clubs in the Dallas area, while this one was under construction.
Instead of cash registers, the front end of the store now features displays of big-ticket items.
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Orders are placed through the app, and a screen on the wall lets shoppers know when their food is ready.
18 pizza-sized cubbies correspond to the monitor where shoppers can collect their orders.
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Some orders are packed for shipping, while others wait on barcoded flatbed carts for pickup.
A vertical carousel holds smaller orders, and an oversized overhead door leads out into the parking lot.
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The system is not yet in use, but once it is up and running, the units will allow Sam’s Club to reach much farther during deliveries without running into food safety problems.
The curbside pickup area is huge.
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The company says most of its stores that offer curbside only have about half as many parking bays.
In the weeks leading up to the opening, Sam’s Club used an interesting strategy to get shoppers acquainted with the app: car washes.
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While many transactions were completed with an app or a kiosk, there were employees available to keep things moving along.
It uses the same strategy for customers filling up on gas.
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Shop employees can key in the type of tire they need and down it comes.
The loading dock was full of tech, too.
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This one wasn’t in service yet, but it’s another piece of technology that will be tested first here at the Grapevine store before potentially being rolled out to other Sam’s Club locations.
AI-powered computer vision scanners also watch what’s coming into the store.
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Each day, the autonomous floor scrubber glides through the aisles while its cameras and sensors check inventory levels and update the company’s computers with the latest numbers.
There are also plenty of low-tech solutions, like signs that help demystify the treasure hunt.
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RFID scanners help Sam’s Club keep track of what (and how much) stuff is where. That allows the store to keep the company’s suite of apps up-to-date for customers and employees.
This 3D printer was one of several display items that required shoppers to scan a QR code to purchase.
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If customers had trouble with a purchase, employees would step in to help.
However, many shoppers simply passed through the gateways without stopping.
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Carts aren’t exactly necessary either. Several shoppers with only an item or two were able to carry their products out of the store.
Overhead cameras catch the top-down view of customers’ carts.
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If an item wasn’t scanned properly, an associate will step up to check the shopper’s cart.
Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas experienced one such inspection.
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An associate with a handheld scanner confirmed the purchases made by Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas: a giant stuffed bear, a Lego set, and a package of raspberries.
“My hope is that Sam’s Club, when you shop, feels like what it’s like to shop in the future. That’s what I hope, and so that’s my job,” Nicholas told BI. “This is a glimpse of that.”