Big Changes Coming To Sam's Club In 2025

Sam's Club has been offering its customers bulk groceries at competitive prices since 1983. As consumers grow increasingly selective about where they spend their money, big-box stores like Sam's Club are motivated to carry out a strategic approach to attract new customers. Sam's Club already offers lower prices than competitors like Costco and BJ's Wholesale Club, with its entry-level membership beginning at $50 per year. Even with Sam's Club's edge on pricing, the company is still working to stand out in the industry, with ongoing investments in AI software and plans to continue its technological developments.

At Walmart Inc.'s 2025 Investment Community Meeting, Sam's Club's CEO and President Chris Nicholas spoke positively of the company's planned changes. "This is one of the fastest, most scalable transformations happening in retail today. We're investing with intention, in our fleet, our associates, and the member experience, to become the world's best club retailer," Nicholas shared. The company has the goal of doubling membership and sales over the next decade in addition to advancing its place in the retail industry. With so many ambitious upgrades, Sam's Club is setting itself up for a strong 2025 and beyond.

One of the most annoying things about shopping at Sam's Club is the weekend rush. Sam's Club is combating the seemingly never-ending lines (and more) by replacing standard checkout counters with AI automation. This tech-forward checkout system, "Scan & Go", launched in 2016 and combined with the Sam's Club app two years later, allowing customers to scan groceries via an app while shopping. After paying by app or at a register, customers can present their QR code or physical receipt to staff members. Shoppers presenting app QR codes frequently had to have multiple items rescanned by receipt checkers, significantly slowing down the exit queue.

Sam's Club's newest model omits the exit queue by replacing its in-person checkers with AI-powered arches. Cameras line the inner ledge of the arches, snapping photos as customers pass through to verify each shopper's purchases. Sam's Club has confirmed that the process uses no facial recognition software.

One warehouse, in Grapevine, Texas, takes things a step further by operating exclusively by app, eradicating the traditional and self-checkout areas entirely by requiring patrons to shop with the smartphone app. Sam's Club began rolling out the arch system in 2024. In an April 2025 Investor's Meeting, the company announced that all 600 of its locations will be remodeled to remove checkout counters, with the Grapevine location "setting the standard for the club of the future." Even with ongoing plans to eliminate registers and receipt checkers, the retailer insists that employees will not be laid off in this next AI-driven chapter.

Eliminating cash registers and self-checkout stations will free up valuable space in the stores, raising the question: How will Sam's Club use this newfound space? Continuing to follow the Grapevine, Texas, model, warehouses will transform these area into showrooms, or as Sam's Club calls it, "the dance floor." At Sam's Club in Grapevine, this space is dedicated to creating a more immersive experience for customers, allowing shoppers to ship items to their home and learn how to use the "Scan & Go" technology. Members can also test out products and read online reviews, making it easier to locate the best (and worst) things to buy at Sam's Club. Plus, shoppers can learn about online and in-warehouse sales, adding to our list of the best deals you can find at Sam's Club.

Grapevine workers quickly favored the modernized "Scan & Go" technology and new showroom. Sam's Club announced in April 2025 that the company is paving the way for these upgrades to be brought to all 600 locations — along with additional perks like a sushi island and full-service pharmacy. Though Sam's Club hasn't explicitly announced the order in which it will be refurbishing warehouses, it has begun the process of adding AI-optimized exit arches to its clubs across the United States.

In April 2025, the company announced ambitious plans to expand across the United States and Puerto Rico at a rate of 15 new stores per year for the foreseeable future. This is on top of 30 new locations Sam's Club promised to open two years ago. These new locations will be approximately 160,000 square feet (compared to the average Sam's Club, which spans 136,000 square feet). These forthcoming warehouses will incorporate the advancements promised at soon-to-be remodeled stores. These upgrades include full-service floral stations, private consultation rooms, and expanded health care centers with private suites, larger patient waiting areas, vision centers, and hearing centers.

Sam's Club has given some insight as to where it will open its next stores, confirming that two new warehouses are coming to Tempe, Arizona, and Lebanon, Tennessee. Texas has the highest number of Sam's Clubs, with 82 locations. In contrast, Sam's Club currently does not have stores in Alaska, District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, or Washington. Perhaps the retail club will be working to expand to these areas next.