Wal-Mart Stores Inc's Sam's Club warehouse chain operator is testing television and home theater installation services at 106 clubs and hopes to have installation capabilities available at all of the clubs by year's end.

"I hope to roll it out by the holidays," said Seong Ohm, senior vice president at Sam's Club, speaking to reporters at a store visit for the media.

Flat-panel TV sales remain brisk as consumers continue to replace their bulky, tube TVs with the new, more advanced TVs. But prices for the sleek flat-panel TVs have dropped, and retailers are looking at service opportunities as a way to differentiate themselves to win market share.

But they are also hoping services, like installation, will cut down on the number of sets that are returned to their stores after customers get the TVs home but then cannot install them properly.

Earlier this year, Costco Wholesale Corp, the No. 1 U.S. warehouse club operator, implemented a new 90-day return policy meant to cut down on the number of customers returning big-screen TVs, which was hurting its margins.

Sam's Club Chief Executive Doug McMillon said he does not expect the retailer to add more employees with extensive electronics training to its clubs.

"I don't think you should expect to see five associates in there that are extraordinarily well trained," McMillon said. "I would like to be able to answer some common-sense question, but our primary offering here is brands for less."

Ohm said Sam's Club is using third parties for the installation services and is testing them at clubs in Florida and Minneapolis.

As of April 30, Wal-Mart had 582 Sam's Clubs locations.