Costco members might come across stores in the U.S. experimenting with membership card scanners at entrances to verify their membership. The move comes as Costco is working to enhance member experience and to block non-members from being let into stores.
On Jan. 8, Costco Insider posted photos on social media of a store in Issaquah, Washington state, with a sign near the entrance that read, “You will be asked to scan your membership card before entering the warehouse”.
To gauge what consumers think, Costco Insider asked them what they thought on both Facebook and X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “They’re checking to make sure the photo matches the person. What do you think?!”
One Costco shopper responded on X, “Great for all of us with legit memberships”.
Another agreed, saying, “I’m so glad for this. I hate being assaulted at checkout for my card.”
Others worried long lines would be a biproduct of scanning IDs.
“I think that will cause long lines to enter and frustrate people!” a Facebook user posted.
According to Costco Insider, one test site will be next to where the store business is headquartered.
Currently, non-members are only allowed to come into Costco to purchase prescriptions and the scanning will crack down on any wannabe members from coming in.
Costco operates 871 warehouses, many in the U.S. and Puerto Rico but also found in Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden.
In Australia, there are two types of membership, Gold Star and Business and each are $60 per year but the price is being raised to $65 in 2024.
According to Costco, the merchandising giant is set to open new warehouses in the Northern Beaches and Sydney’s south, in addition to its 14 warehouses across Australia.
Costco Australia’s most recent annual sales hit $3.67 billion to the end of last August, up 30%, leading over Myer, David Jones and Officeworks.
There has not been any official word yet on if Australian Costco’s will also trial the membership scanners.
