Sam's Club is trying something different in its new Dallas location — by getting rid of cashiers.
On Monday, Sam's Club said it was close to opening its new store, called Sam's Club Now.
The new Dallas location is about one-fourth of the size of a traditional Sam's Club warehouse, but the company says that's so it can test out new technologies like electronic shelf labels.
The store will operate a little like a scan-it-yourself section in a grocery store, except you don't actually have to go to a lane to check out.
The whole shopping process can all be done using a smartphone and the Sam's Club Now app. All customers have to do is scan items they pick up as they go and scan a code with a host when leaving the store.
The new app is based on the store's Scan & Go app, which works in a similar way. Walmart, Sam's Club's parent company, also used the Scan & Go app in more than 100 of its stores for a while, but it didn't work out, and the retail store ended up shelving the idea. It's not clear why the app didn't work at Walmart, but reports say customers found it awkward to scan as many items as they typically bought there.
