Sam’s Club using AI for receipt verification; it’s coming to CT

"I’m incredibly proud of the innovation and dedication of our team to deploy this member experience technology at scale," Todd Garner, chief product officer at Sam’s Club,

Sam’s Club is now using “artificial intelligence and computer vision technology” for receipt verification to exit the club at more than 120 locations, according to the company.

The company said there is “significant progress in its rollout of technology that resolves a key member concern” that of waiting in line for the verification.

The company first rolled out the technology at an electronics show in January, according to a statement.

A spokesperson for Sam’s said, “We will be rolling out the new exit technology to Connecticut early this fall.”

“I’m incredibly proud of the innovation and dedication of our team to deploy this member experience technology at scale,” Todd Garner, chief product officer at Sam’s Club, said, also in the statement.

“Both exit technology and Scan & Go are driving new levels of convenience and raising member satisfaction among members. What distinguishes Sam’s Club from our competitors is our ability to seamlessly deploy this technology at scale across our nearly 600 clubs nationwide. Whether it’s a single item or a cartful, we’re revolutionizing the checkout experience.”

The company said the deployment of the technology “represents the largest-scale implementation of member-facing AI-powered technology in the retail industry.”

“This new technology has improved the experience for Sam’s Club members almost immediately upon deployment. In clubs where the technology has been deployed, more than half of members are getting the friction-free exit experience,” the statement said, also noting members are able to leave “the club 23 percent faster.”

Further, “Sam’s Club plans to deploy the exit technology to all of its clubs by the end of 2024.” The statement did not name Connecticut stores using the AI.

How it works, according to Sam’s:

• The exit technology is used to confirm members have paid for all items in their shopping carts
• The does not require an associate to check members’ purchases before leaving the club
• Members previously were slowed by queuing at the club’s exit area to have member specialists review receipts and examine items in a cart
• After a member completes payment at a register or via Scan & Go, a combination of computer vision and digital technology deployed in the exit area of the club captures images of carts and verifies payment for all items within a member’s basket.