Shoppers will soon have company when they browse the aisles of BJ’s Wholesale Club stores, and it's not human.

The Marlborough, Massachusetts-based chain of warehouse stores will be deploying a robot, called Tally, at all 237 of its locations. The company said Tuesday the roving devices, which look like a slim column, are not programmed to assist shoppers, but rather will be tasked with gathering real-time shelf data to ensure products are in-stock, and accurately priced.

BJ's Warehouse is partnering with Simbe Robotics of San Francisco to roll out Tally, which it described as a "business solution ... [that] will provide greater visibility into club conditions and deeper business insights, ultimately improving operational efficiencies."

BJ's Warehouse, which is in expansion mode, isn't the only retailer that has deployed robots to work in its aisles. Schnuck Markets, the supermarket chain based in St. Louis, in 2021 announced a multiyear full-scale roll-out of Tally robots to all 111 of its locations. Before that, in 2019, Giant Food Stores, the grocer headquartered in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, said it would start deploying robot assistants in its 172 stores. But in that case the robot, named Marty and featuring googly eyes, is mainly on-site to report spills, debris and other potential hazards to shoppers at Giant grocery stores.

Tally's assignment is different.

“By deploying Tally in all of our club locations, we will gain unprecedented insights which will leverage real-time data, enabling us to continuously improve our operation and ensure that we’re offering the best possible experience to both our team members and members,” Jeff Desroches, executive vice president and chief operations officer at BJ’s Wholesale Club, said in a statement.

Tally "autonomously roams club aisles multiple times per day, leveraging computer vision technology to collect highly accurate shelf data that ensures products are in-stock, shelved appropriately, and accurately priced," according to BJ's Wholesale's statement.

That real-time data will enable the faster restocking of items and provide "valuable visibility into inventory tracking," the chain said.

Ultimately, Tally will allow BJ's Wholesale employees to focus more time on providing customer service, according to the retailer.

“Our team has partnered with BJ’s to refine our computer vision technology to accommodate the unique layout and product assortment in a warehouse club," Simbe CEO Brad Bogolea said in a statement. "By leveraging Tally to automate inventory tracking, BJ’s will gain transformative visibility that will inform decisions, improve operations, and provide even greater value to members.”

BJ's Wholesale has been expanding its physical footprint. Last week, the retailer announced the addition of five new store openings this year, including a move into its 20th state, Alabama.

The company is debuting stores in Mount Juliet, Tennessee; Johnson City, New York; Lewis Center, Ohio; and North Jacksonville, Florida. Those clubs follow the chain's newest locations in Davenport, Florida, and McDonough, Georgia, as well as the recent announcement of BJ’s first-ever club in Tennessee, slated to open this summer in LaVergne. In November, the chain took over the space of a former Sears department store at the Willowbrook mall in Wayne, New Jersey.

Giant's Marty robots are the result of its partnership with Ahold Delhaize USA services company Retail Business Services and Jabil subsidiary Badger Technologies.

"The in-store robots, which move around the store unassisted, are being used to identify hazards, such as liquid, powder and bulk food-items spills and provide reporting that enables quick corrective action," Giant said when it announced it was rolling out Marty. "The robots’ efforts free up associates to spend more time serving customers. They also help stores mitigate risk caused by such spills."

A Marty robot made headlines last month when it "escaped" from a Giant store in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, and was wandering around its parking lot.

BJ's Wholesale's Tally robot scans entire stores up to three times a day and autonomously returns to its dock allowing for continuous operation. Combined with Simbe’s cloud-powered software, and powered by computer vision and machine learning, Tally gathers information and insight into the state of the retailer's stores.