---
title: "Walmart Is Opening a Store With Zero Cashiers"
description: "Walmart-owned retail store chain Sam's Club announced it will open a cashier-less store in Dallas, Texas. But it will still employ some human staff."
date: "2018-10-29"
modified: "2018-10-29"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/walmart-sams-club-self-checkout-app"
categories:
  - "Future Society"
tags:
  - "Amazon"
  - "amazon go"
  - "cashier-less"
  - "the digest"
---

# Walmart Is Opening a Store With Zero Cashiers

![Walmart-owned retail store chain Sam's Club announced it will open a cashier-less store in Dallas, Texas. But it will still employ human staff.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/walmart-sams-club-self-checkout-app.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: \<a href="https://corporate.samsclub.com/blog/2018/10/29/sams-club-now-reimagining-the-future-of-retail" target="\_blank"\>Walmart\</a\>\</em\>*

## Self-Checkout

Amazon's "Amazon Go" stores allow customers to walk in, pick up a can of Campbell's soup, and simply walk out while [cameras track their purchases](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazon-go-cashier-free-store>). Now Walmart has puts own twist on the concept of a store with no cashiers.

The Walmart-owned Sam's Club [just announced](<https://corporate.samsclub.com/blog/2018/10/29/sams-club-now-reimagining-the-future-of-retail>) it will open a "mobile-first shopping experience" in Dallas, Texas. It won't involve any cashiers, but will deploy augmented reality and navigation features, according to [an official blog post](<https://corporate.samsclub.com/blog/2018/10/29/sams-club-now-reimagining-the-future-of-retail>).

## Amazon Race

But Walmart is still keeping it simpler than Amazon Go. Rather than using cameras and sensors to make sense of your shopping trip, you'll still have to pull out your phone to scan your items yourself. And the store will have some human employees to keep things running smoothly.

Whether that's more or less tedious than standing in line at the checkout counter is yet to be seen.

## Always Low Prices

Sam's Club is essentially replacing a human cashier plus self-checkout counters with an app on your smartphone. Is that the future we've all been waiting for? Not exactly — it's essentially off-loading the labor of checking out at the grocery store onto its customers, while collecting a [load of data](<https://www.brookings.edu/blog/techtank/2018/02/13/amazon-go-store-offers-quicker-checkout-for-greater-data-collection/>) about your shopping habits.

And at the end of the day, do we really need yet another single-purpose app on our home screens?

**Read More: [Walmart-owned Sam’s Club is opening a cashier-less store in Texas](<https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/29/18037538/sams-club-cashier-less-store-texas-experiment-amazon-go-walmart>) \[The Verge\]**

**More on Amazon's Go stores: [Amazon’s Cashier-Free Stores Are Going National. And It Might Just Change the Future of Retail.](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazon-go-cashier-free-store>)**

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)