5 Big Changes Sam's Club Is Rolling Out In 2026

We all love Sam's Club for great deals on high-quality bulk products. It's the home of the rotisserie chicken even cheaper than Costco's, the place where you can score paper products, pasta, gas, and snacks at a price that keeps you coming back. Every year there are a few changes at the ever-popular membership warehouse grocer, like when Sam's Club forayed into private-label sushi in 2025 and introduced AI-powered exit monitoring in 2024. This year, you'll be seeing some of those changes pushed forward into new frontiers. In 2026, Sam's Club is expanding its technological capabilities, its physical footprint, and its inventory of private-label products.

Member's Mark products (like these Sam's Club items you need to try under $10) are getting a complete ingredient overhaul in 2026. Following its Made Without initiative, Sam's Club has removed 40 potentially harmful ingredients from its products. This has triggered a total shift in inventory, so watch for deals on products being phased out as new items take their place on the shelves.

Sam's Club is doubling down on digital tools in 2026 as well by pushing its futuristic shopping model even further. The company will be remodeling all 600 stores to be checkout-free, moving customers toward already established digital payments with AI scanning technology used as an anti-theft measure on the way out.

Sam's Club dipped its toe into the sushi scene in 2025 and customers were thrilled; some even said it was the "best grocery store sushi" they'd ever had — especially considering it starts at around $7 for 10 pieces. In 2026, the sushi counter is only getting better. Sam's Club's $25 sushi party tray is a steal, according to customers, but keep an eye out for a new menu that includes Korean Barbecue Chicken Spring Rolls and Spicy Tuna Mango Rolls as well as options that reflect regional and local tastes instead of just the basic California Roll (don't get us wrong, we love a good California Roll).

Sam's Club sushi is freshly made in-house by a trained chef every day right in front of customers. If you time it right, you'll be able to score some solid sushi rolls for a great price and have them made right in front of you. Customers say they love the new addition. "Our folks are really nice," one shopper wrote on Reddit. "Kids are fascinated by the sushi guys and like to ask them questions, probably because they're more 'accessible' to kids' view. Kids also like the bright colors of the sushi and the free chopsticks." On another Reddit thread, a different customer said, "We knew a sushi chef that went [to] work at a local store. He said the fish was OK. I imagine it has to be considering we are in a litigious country."

Sam's Club has been on a mission to rid its private label products of 40 potentially dangerous ingredients for years and the company finally achieved its Made Without goal in early 2026. Going forward, you'll notice some recipe changes and ingredient label adjustments on Member's Mark products. The initiative started in 2022 and involves removing ingredients like artificial flavors, aspartame, certified synthetic colors, high-fructose corn syrup, butylated hydroxy anisole (BHA) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), formaldehyde, and talc.

The change comes in response to customer feedback requesting cleaner products. In 2026, all Member's Mark products will meet the Made Without standard. Banned ingredients have been swapped for more natural alternatives, like natural sweeteners, spirulina, vegetable juices, and annatto. It will be interesting to see if other grocers follow suit in the future. Sam's Club is far from the only one to address public concern over what's in our food, but the Made Without initiative was certainly ambitious. Whether it will draw in new customers from competitors who are slacking in this area remains to be seen.

As Sam's Club finalizes its overhaul of Member's Mark products, the membership grocer is going to want to move the old products out quickly. Customers are already seeing this in action with epic sales on items that couldn't be reformulated to the new Made Without standard and so are being discontinued instead. Shoppers have already found sales on items marked clearance, like $4 off a 20-count box of Chex Mix Peanut Butter Bars, $4 off a 60-count Member's Mark variety pack of single serve coffee pods, and $3 off a 32-count box of Member's Mark Better Breakfast Bars.

It really is out with the old and in with the new at Sam's Club right now, and the list of incoming inventory keeps expanding as 2026 moves along. New items include ready-to bake Essential Baking Organic Sourdough Bread sold in two loaves that can be ready in 15 minutes. You'll also find a tempting shrimp tempura and coconut shrimp tray from Member's Mark that's complete with dipping sauces and perfect for your next gathering. Keep an eye out for other new products like Liquid Death's Modern Classics Sparkling Water Variety Pack, Member's Mark Peanut Butter Chocolate Lover's Trail Mix, as well as marranitos (Mexican gingerbread) and French vanilla pound cake from the bakery.

AI is powering the experience at Sam's Club and the company is pushing digital shopping even more heavily in 2026. Already, most of the door guards are gone from Sam's Club warehouses. You won't see a person checking receipts. Instead, AI scans your cart as you walk out. In 2026, Sam's club will be directing customers toward a shopping experience with very limited human interaction (if you want).

This year, the company is phasing out the physical checkout stands and pushing shoppers to use the Scan & Go feature on the Sam's Club app instead. Scan & Go lets you scan each item you put in your cart as you put it in your cart and then digitally pay for everything. You simply show an exit code on the way out the door and you can go on with your day. It works for buying fuel, too. The company pitches the change as a way to create an easier, less stressful experience that's catered to each individual customer.

California, Texas, and Tennessee will be seeing new Sam's Club stores in 2026; adding to the 600 locations already established nationwide. As you might expect, they'll be fully outfitted with the newest AI and digital technology (and those new sushi stands). The details have been released in media interviews with company spokespeople who have said at least six stores are in the works in those states – a location in Lebanon, Tennessee, one each in Lathrop and Visalia in California, and warehouses in three Texas towns: Baytown, Tomball, and Weslaco.

Sam's Club plans to continue its growth trajectory, with goals to double the number of members in the next decade. It's all part of Sam's Club's expansion plan; a strategy that hinges on both an increase in physical locations combined with customers using digital shopping tools. These plans include designs for a total of 30 new stores within the next two fiscal years.