Scan & Go Slashes Checkout Line Time

Sam’s Club, the wholesale club store division of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has been testing a smartphone app that allows members to skip the checkout line and head for the door after completing an in-app purchase.

Previously, members waited in the checkout line before having to wait again at the door while associates confirm that the items on each member’s receipt match those in the cart.

But for users of the Scan & Go program, the checkout waiting line is eliminated because purchases are completed via the app on a member’s smartphone, instead of at a register.

Shauna Bowen, vice president of operations for Sam’s Club, said the app is another example of how Sam’s is investing in digital technology.

“The primary focus is to elevate the member experience by making the checkout process faster as well as making it more convenient for the member,” Bowen said.

Scan & Go is a free app that can only be downloaded on the iPhone and used inside one of the 59 participating club stores. The app should available for Android phones in late July, and the program is expected to be in all 653 Sam’s Club stores by the holiday shopping season.

Members use the app on their phone to scan items as they shop in store. When done, pay using a credit or debit card that’s saved in the app. Head for the door, and an associate will use a handheld device to scan the digital receipt displayed on the member’s smartphone. Like with a paper receipt, the associate will check that the items on the receipt, shown on the device, match up with those in the cart.

“I truly think that this particular program bridges the physical and digital, because you’re physically shopping in the club while paying through and transacting through a digital device,” Bowen said. “Whereas, traditionally, you either look online and/or in the club. So this truly bridges that gap.”

Members might like that the app tallies instant savings discounts and tax, so they’ll have a running total while they shop. Digital receipts are also stored in the app.

Sam’s Club in Fayetteville was first to test the app in October 2015. The program expanded to 24 clubs in February 2016.

“We’ve received rave reviews from our members,” Bowen said. “They’re loving it.”

In 2013, a similar app was tested, but it required members to check out at a register.

Walmart has been testing a program like Scan & Go that allows customers to shop with a handheld device but still requires them to check out at a register.