Sam’s Club Stores in Maine Set For Major Checkout Change

In just the last few years, there have been several ways that shopping at big box stores has changed throughout America. From a focus on more self-checkout lanes to a shift to more widely accepted forms of digital payments, the times are certainly changing.

The rapid shift in how people shop at big box stores in Maine is about to get its biggest adjustment ever courtesy of Sam's Club. And there will questions about whether shoppers love it and whether other stores will need to follow their lead.

Sam's Club Stores Throughout Maine Will Be Eliminating Checkout Lanes

According to Fox Business, Sam's Club is going nuclear against their warehouse rivals like Costco and Bj's with a new plan that is likely to leave shoppers incredibly divided.

Sam's Club plans to begin phasing out all checkout lanes at their stores across the country, including the 3 they operate in Maine. That includes any and all self-checkout lanes as well as traditional checkout lanes featuring a cashier.

Sam's Club Will Introduce a 'Scan and Go' Form of Shopping at Its Stores

As the phasing out of traditional checkout lanes begins, Sam's Club will need to teach its loyal customer base how to shop a new way. Sam's Club is leaning into AI technology by asking shoppers to use mobile devices to scan the products they want themselves and then pay for the items with digital forms of payment.

The belief by Sam's Club is that once the learning curve is over, shoppers will fully embrace that they can visit any one of Sam's Club 600 stores nationwide and not have to worry about long checkout lines and waiting to have their receipt validated.

How Soon Will Checkout Lanes Disappear From Sam's Club?

Sam's Club has already opened one warehouse that is checkout lane free as a test store. They will begin to make changes across the country but the company failed to give an exact deadline on when the changes would be complete.

Sam's Club did declare there would be no reduction in workforce based on the changes. Instead, employees can be more focused on helping customers individually, keeping product stocked as well as enhancing other customer experiences.