Earlier this year, Sam’s Club unveiled a new technology that uses computer vision and machine learning to allow customers to exit stores after the checkout process without an associate checking their receipt—a common practice at membership-only warehouse stores.

Now, the Walmart-owned chain is testing the technology at 10 locations, and there are plans to expand it to 600 by the end of the year.

But none of this would be possible without a key back-end technology known as “edge computing,” which gives individual stores the computing power to handle AI-powered functions such as seamless exit, Todd Garner, interim chief product officer at Sam’s Club, told Retail Brew.

Garner said the company started working on ways to make the exit process more seamless back in 2016, when it became clear that members were identifying it as their biggest pain point.

“As we looked at the data, we really tried to understand where our members still had pain, still had frustration,” he said. “What we found was that our exit process regularly emerged as one of the top areas of inconvenience for them.”

The launch of Scan & Go, which allows customers to scan and pay for items on their smartphones, was one solution designed to speed up the checkout process—though customers still had to present their receipts to an employee before exiting.

Keep reading here.—AV

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On its fourth quarter and full-year 2023 earnings call last week, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen provided an update on the grocer’s proposed merger with Albertsons and detailed the company’s “optimism for 2024.”

Following last week’s news that the Federal Trade Commission is suing to block the deal, calling it anticompetitive (Washington and Colorado also filed their own lawsuits pushing back on the deal last month), McMullen said Kroger is “committed to defending the merger.”

“While we were disappointed about the FTC’s recent attempt to challenge our merger, we were not surprised, given the current political environment,” he said, referencing its track record with previous mergers, which include Harris Teeter in 2014 and Roundy’s in 2015. “The character of a company is clear in its actions, regardless of what others claim. Kroger keeps its commitments. And we’re happy to share this with whomever is willing to talk with us.”

The FTC hasn’t set a hearing date yet, but Kroger expects it this summer, he said.

Kroger plans to complete 30 store openings, relocations, and expansions this year, interim CFO Todd Foley said. New stores will be an important part of the grocer’s future sales growth, McMullen noted. While the closure of the deal with Albertsons would boost its store count to more than 5,000, McMullen said Kroger will “continue to run our business just like we would run our business without the merger.”

Keep reading here.—EC

Welcome back, everyone. Before our next edition comes out, St. Patrick’s Day will have come and gone, so we hope everyone who celebrates has plenty of green beverages.

In new hires: Today, Outfox Hospitality, which owns Foxtrot Market, has a new CEO—Rob Twyman, who took over for Liz Williams. Williams stepped into the CEO role for El Pollo Loco, also effective today. In November, Foxtrot merged with Dom’s Kitchen & Market, and now Twyman will oversee the company’s day-to-day operations and regional growth.

• Twyman spent many years at Whole Foods, including as EVP of global operations and a regional president. He was most recently CEO of Daily Table, a nonprofit grocery company.

“Rob is a visionary in the grocery retail space having transformed the consumer food and beverage supermarket experience for over three decades,” Jay Owen, Dom’s Kitchen & Market co-founder, said in a statement.

Keep reading here.—KM

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