The Tables Are Turned

The Lempert Report
April 12, 2022

The tables are turned – this time around its Walmart that is suing. And the company that is being sued is BJs Wholesale Club. It’s an interesting lawsuit as its all about technology. Walmart is accusing BJs of stealing its intellectual property that they developed for Sam’s Club Scan&Go self-checkout app. Scan&Go launched back in 2016 and BJ’s ExpressPay launched late last year. Walmart says that all BJs did was to change the colors and the name. The lawsuit also states that Walmart’s innovations were simply taken without permission in spite of the fact that Walmart has multiple patents on the technology. This suite is important as more and more grocery retailers adopt new technologies to offset the lack of labor and increased hourly wages. As retailers struggle to differentiate themselves and create better shopper experiences there is little doubt that they will be looking to other retailers platforms to see what they are doing – hopefully to improve on it – and not steal it.