I'm a loyal Costco member, but Sam's Club's convenient scan-and-go checkout feature has me questioning my choice

Mary MeisenzahlJun 17, 2022, 07:07 IST

I visited Sam's Club to test out the scan-and-go feature that lets customers avoid checkout lines.
It was convenient and easy to use, and saved significant time checking out.

I'm a Costco member, but I recently visited Sam's Club for the first time to see how the two warehouse stores compare.

Scott Olson/Getty Images

Though I had a good experience at Sam's Club, it still seemed to fall behind Costco in my experience.

Charles Krupa/AP Images

Then, I heard from dozens of readers about their favorite Sam's Club feature that makes it stand out above Costco: scan-and-go.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

To use it, I had to download the Sam's Club app, where I logged in with my new membership.

Sam's Club

It's easy to find as one of the main tabs at the bottom of the app.

Sam's Club/Mary Meisenzahl/InsiderSam's Club

It works exactly as the name implies, according to the brief instructions in the app that advised me to "scan items as you add them to your cart."

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The instructions seemed pretty hard to mess up, so I drove back to Sam's Club to try it out.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The feature only works when you're inside or near one of the store locations.

Sam's Club

When you open the app inside Sam's Club, you can see receipts from past orders and select the scan-and-go feature.

Sam's Club

You can also pull up your Sam's Club card within the app in case you need to scan it for anything, like at checkout.

Sam's Club

I decided my first purchase had to be this mesh turtle pool float that caught my eye in a display near the entrance.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

It felt basically like using self checkout, with the only difference being that the scanner was on my phone instead of attached to a kiosk.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

It was actually much easier than typical self checkout, because my phone immediately recognized the barcode.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

The turtle toy was immediately viewable in the app as part of my cart, where I had the option to remove it or scan more items.

Sam's Club

I grabbed a few other items I needed, still using the app.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

I tried different types of items, from sunscreen to salad to a block of parmesan cheese, and it was all equally easy to scan.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

As I was shopping, I saw there were savings on certain items only available through scan-and-go.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Sure enough, the promised discount was reflected on the app.

Sam's Club

I ended up saving $4 total on two different items, which felt like a nice bonus for using the feature.

Sam's Club

When I was ready to pay, I just hit the button on the bottom of the page to checkout.

Sam's Club

As soon as the transaction went through, the app gave me a QR code receipt that a Sam's worker scanned as I left the store to make sure I'd paid for my purchases.

Sam's Club

It felt very weird and unnatural to just walk past the registers with my cart.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Sam's Club even says scan-and-go can be used to purchase alcohol, and the worker at the door will check your ID, though I didn't get to test this.

Sam's Club

Avoiding the lines at checkout was definitely the most appealing part of using scan and go.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

Costco always has long lines, but they're typically much worse on the weekends, which is when it's most convenient for me to go.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

If Costco added this feature, I could easily save 15 minutes of waiting from each trip, on average.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

For now I'm still a Costco member, because the closest Sam's Club is about an hour drive away.

Mary Meisenzahl/Insider

If that wasn't the case, I think scan-and-go could convince me to become a Sam's Club shopper instead.

Sam's Club membership card.Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images

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I'm a loyal Costco member, but Sam's Club's convenient scan-and-go checkout feature has me questioning my choice

I'm a Costco member, but I recently visited Sam's Club for the first time to see how the two warehouse stores compare.

Though I had a good experience at Sam's Club, it still seemed to fall behind Costco in my experience.

Then, I heard from dozens of readers about their favorite Sam's Club feature that makes it stand out above Costco: scan-and-go.

To use it, I had to download the Sam's Club app, where I logged in with my new membership.

It's easy to find as one of the main tabs at the bottom of the app.

It works exactly as the name implies, according to the brief instructions in the app that advised me to "scan items as you add them to your cart."

The instructions seemed pretty hard to mess up, so I drove back to Sam's Club to try it out.

The feature only works when you're inside or near one of the store locations.

When you open the app inside Sam's Club, you can see receipts from past orders and select the scan-and-go feature.

You can also pull up your Sam's Club card within the app in case you need to scan it for anything, like at checkout.

I decided my first purchase had to be this mesh turtle pool float that caught my eye in a display near the entrance.

It felt basically like using self checkout, with the only difference being that the scanner was on my phone instead of attached to a kiosk.

It was actually much easier than typical self checkout, because my phone immediately recognized the barcode.

The turtle toy was immediately viewable in the app as part of my cart, where I had the option to remove it or scan more items.

I grabbed a few other items I needed, still using the app.

I tried different types of items, from sunscreen to salad to a block of parmesan cheese, and it was all equally easy to scan.

As I was shopping, I saw there were savings on certain items only available through scan-and-go.

Sure enough, the promised discount was reflected on the app.

I ended up saving $4 total on two different items, which felt like a nice bonus for using the feature.

When I was ready to pay, I just hit the button on the bottom of the page to checkout.

As soon as the transaction went through, the app gave me a QR code receipt that a Sam's worker scanned as I left the store to make sure I'd paid for my purchases.

It felt very weird and unnatural to just walk past the registers with my cart.

Sam's Club even says scan-and-go can be used to purchase alcohol, and the worker at the door will check your ID, though I didn't get to test this.

Avoiding the lines at checkout was definitely the most appealing part of using scan and go.

Costco always has long lines, but they're typically much worse on the weekends, which is when it's most convenient for me to go.

If Costco added this feature, I could easily save 15 minutes of waiting from each trip, on average.

For now I'm still a Costco member, because the closest Sam's Club is about an hour drive away.

If that wasn't the case, I think scan-and-go could convince me to become a Sam's Club shopper instead.