Sam’s Club’s latest move could leave Costco behind

Costo and Walmart’s Sam’s Club offer similar shopping experiences and, in many markets, they are located near each other.

Both chains fight for every advantage possible. Costco offers its Kirkland Signature brand, which may be the most trusted house brand in the country, but Sam’s Club may actually have the cheapest prices.

“In 2023, AARP examined the prices of 30 comparable grocery items at each chain and found that, in their sample, Sam’s Club groceries were about 18.36% cheaper by weight than those at Costco. Some of the items they compared included rotisserie chicken, wild salmon filets, baked goods, eggs, baked, baked, baked, baked, baked, baked, orange juice,” Jeremy of The Street Salvucci wrote.

In the same article, he also found that Sam’s Club has another pricing advantage over Costco.

“The product lines of two stores are sometimes comparable in price, but when they are not, Sam’s Club Member Mark products are often cheaper than their Kirkland Signature counterparts” he wrote.

Costco and Sam’s Club have nearly 600 warehouse clubs in the United States. Walmart doesn’t report membership numbers for Sam’s Club, so it’s impossible to know which chain has more members.

It’s fair to say, however, that each company works hard to provide a better experience than its most similar competitors. Sam’s Club’s latest move, you could argue, could give it an advantage over Costco.

While Costco is testing some new checkout experiences that will speed up its lines, Sam’s Club has already made major improvements to its checkout offering.

Sam’s Club has made significant progress in its rollout of technology that addresses a major member concern — waiting in line for receipt verification to exit the club.

The retailer’s first-of-its-kind use of artificial intelligence and computer vision technology has been successfully deployed in more than 120 clubs since its unveiling at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.

Since the update, Sam’s Club has added the technology to all of its US warehouse locations.

“In clubs where the technology is used, more than half of members are experiencing a friction-free exit. This translates to all members leaving the club 23% faster,” the company shared in a press release.

Sam’s Club also plans to eliminate traditional checkout lines.

“Traditional checkouts will be replaced by a system known as Scan and Go, which allows members to scan products with the store app and complete purchases directly from their phones,” according to Payments Journal.

This new update adds a layer of artificial intelligence (AI) to the checkout process.

“AI scanners verify goods as customers exit, eliminating the need for receipt checks at the door. Since Sam’s Club operates under a membership model, theft is not a concern at a flagship Walmart store,” the company shared.

That’s good for consumers – if it works. A retail expert offered more details in an email to Customer Experience Dive, as cited by Retail Dive.

It defeats the purpose if a worker has to be involved in the process.

“Many of these friction points involve excessive interaction with a salesperson, which is what self-checkout is designed to eliminate,” added Mishra.

Costco is also working on speeding up its checkout, but it’s using a more manual approach.

“Progress has already begun and is yielding tangible results. In the warehouse, the implementation of scanning memberships upon entry, the Costco digital wallet, and prescanning small to mid-sized baskets has led to a better member experience and improved productivity,” CEO Ron Vakris shared on the chain’s first quarter earnings call.

More retail:

He said the results were positive.

“Warehouses that first adopted this prescan technology have shown checkout speed improvements of up to 20%. And overall in our US warehouses, [we] Achieved record levels of checkout productivity in the final weeks of the quarter,” he shared.

Having been a Costco member for most of the past 30 years, I absolutely resent having someone check my receipt when I leave the store. I don’t like the implication that I might be plagiarizing and the process seems mildly offensive.

Additionally, I don’t enjoy waiting in line, so any effort to speed up the check out process is appreciated.

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“Self-service has become an essential retail feature, but good self-service is more elusive. Companies have made significant strides in recent years to increase the availability of self-service kiosks and other unfamiliar payment options,” according to PYMNTS.com.

The payment publication also shared some other key statistics on self-checkout.

• 84 percent of US consumers are enjoying it Self-service kiosks66% preferring them to staff checkouts.

• Eighty-one percent of consumers surveyed said they would More self-service options They frequent businesses.

• Volume alone isn’t enough, either, as 36% said they want smart anonymous payment options.

Self-checkout is becoming the retail norm, according to Capital One’s Shopping Research, which shared some other facts:

• 75.4% of self-checkout kiosks are installed in retail stores.

• 96% of grocery stores Offer self-checkout.

• Early estimates indicate this 10,000 retailers worldwide Has installed self-checkout systems as of 2024.

• Estimates are by 2030 Over 24,000 stores Will offer self-checkout.

• In 2023, 217,000 new self-checkout terminals delivered in stores worldwide, up 12% from 2022.

“The North American self-checkout system market is predictable $2.28 billion As of 2024; Projections indicate that it will pass $5 billion By 2030,” Capital One added.

Consumers want automation, but they also want to see the technology improve, according to a survey by NMI.

“The majority of consumers want more self-service opportunities, but also expect a better user experience. When self-service payments work seamlessly, they represent extreme convenience — one of the most important factors in choosing a consumer payment.

“But, when they don’t work, especially in a completely unpredictable environment with no help readily available on site, the customer is effectively left powerless, creating an extremely negative experience,” the study showed.

RELATED: Costco upgrades benefits for members amid slow growth

This story was originally published by TheStreet on January 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Retail section. Add TheStreet as a preferred source by clicking here.