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AI-powered checkout allows a phone to replace traditional registers and offer a quicker, more efficient grocery shopping experience.
On April 15, Sam’s Club officially announced plans to revise its checkouts to be AI-powered and employee-free. The company called this transition the “Scan & Go,” where customers will use “just go” technology on the store’s app to scan their own items individually as they shop.
The hope of this project is to ensure customers have all the items they need and to avoid waiting in checkout lines.
This would minimize long lines for people waiting to check out, and it would take away from stores having to hire individuals to help with self-checkouts. The initiative will also lower the number of employees helping with registers and put more of them on the floor where customers may need help throughout their shopping experience.
“I think the biggest benefit is that it addresses labor shortages. The side benefits are increased efficiency, the ability to check out at the same time and reduced lines.” – Dr. Varun Gupta, University of North Georgia Logistics and Business Analytics professor
While there are many benefits to the transition to AI checkouts, there are also some disadvantages. Some of the more frivolous effects are technical issues and glitches, customer frustration and less human interaction. Although these problems could seem insignificant to some shoppers, there are more important and higher-risk issues to pay attention to.
Dr. Varun Gupta, a professor of logistics and business analytics at the University of North Georgia, noted that one of the biggest challenges with these automated checkouts is that AI can be wrong. “If it incorrectly flags someone for theft, it could lead to legal action. Without a staff member present to intervene or clarify, the question becomes: who is held responsible? AI also relies on a vast amount of information, and there are concerns about how consumer data is going to be used by both retailers and larger AI companies, ” he said.
The businesses that choose to make this switch for financial purposes could potentially see different advantages.
“AI checkouts have the potential to reduce theft loss by detecting suspicious behavior more effectively,” Gupta said. “Traditional cash registers are expensive, but when consumers use their own phones, it reduces costs for companies and minimizes friction.”
If AI works appropriately and efficiently, the business saves money and the shopper saves time.