Sam’s Club is enhancing its popular Scan & Go service by incorporating alcohol purchases, streamlining the buying experience for its members. This update, detailed in a press release by Grocery Dive, allows shoppers to use the Scan & Go feature within the Sam’s Club app for alcoholic beverages, offering a quicker checkout process.
The process is straightforward: customers scan the barcodes of beer, wine, and spirits using their smartphones as they shop. Upon exiting the store, they simply present their ID to the Sam’s Club employee at the door for age verification. Once the ID is checked, a quick tap of the “pay” button in the app finalizes the transaction, allowing members to bypass traditional checkout lines entirely for their alcohol purchases.
This feature was initially tested at Sam’s Club Now, the company’s retail and innovation lab in Dallas, last year. Following successful trials, Sam’s Club has now rolled out this convenient alcohol purchasing option to all of its locations where alcohol is sold, nationwide.
This move comes at a time when alcohol sales are experiencing robust growth. Data indicates a 5.1% increase in alcohol sales between 2017 and 2018, highlighting a significant market opportunity. Retailers are increasingly looking for innovative ways to merge the burgeoning demand for digital shopping solutions with the sale of alcohol, a traditionally in-person purchase.
For Sam’s Club, integrating alcohol into Scan & Go is a strategic step to potentially increase basket sizes. The Scan & Go program has already proven its appeal, particularly for bulk purchases, which are common at warehouse clubs. Sam’s Club has been proactive in continually innovating to maintain this momentum. Earlier in the year, they announced trials of image-recognition technology designed to further accelerate the Scan & Go process. This technology allows shoppers to scan entire products, rather than just barcodes, promising an even faster and more intuitive user experience.
Further demonstrating its commitment to innovative shopping solutions, Sam’s Club recently launched a Scan & Go-only store within an online distribution center in Tampa. This location stocks approximately 2,000 high-demand items, catering specifically to shoppers who value speed and convenience.
While the ID check at the exit introduces a necessary step to ensure compliance with alcohol sales regulations, it is a familiar process for club store shoppers who are accustomed to receipt verification upon leaving. Moreover, Scan & Go systems often incorporate random audits as a measure to prevent theft. Despite some inconsistencies in the widespread adoption of rapid checkout technologies across the retail sector, a significant majority of consumers, around 73%, express openness to using self-checkout and similar self-service technologies in stores, according to a study by SOTI, a mobile device management company.
The online alcohol sales market is also expanding rapidly. Sam’s Club has already ventured into this domain, launching same-day alcohol delivery through Instacart at over 200 stores across 10 states earlier in the year. Walmart, its parent company, introduced alcohol pickup at 2,000 locations, and Aldi has also launched nationwide alcohol delivery. Other retailers like Meijer, H-E-B, and Schnucks are also participating in this trend by offering alcohol delivery through platforms like Shipt and Instacart.
Sam’s Club’s expansion of Scan & Go to include alcohol is a clear indication of the evolving retail landscape. By embracing technology to enhance customer convenience in alcohol purchasing, Sam’s Club is positioning itself to capture a larger share of the market and meet the demands of today’s digitally-savvy consumers.
