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Costco membership scanners coming to clubs in sharing crackdown
- darth_avocado 2y agoSo my spouse and my kids now need me to shop at Costco all the time?
- yumraj 2y agoYour spouse can get her own card. Having said that, this will probably piss me off. Why can’t the cashier do this and deny at the time of purchase. Costco’s customer friendliness is why I shop there, and this is not customer friendly. Seems like a bean counter had a brilliant idea. /s
- tssva 2y agoEven the cashier checking is ridiculous. The picture on my card is from over 20 years ago and was printed in low resolution b&w on my current card over 10 years ago. It is a giant smudge that looks like no one.
- uqual 2y agoMine is so old that it doesn't have a picture on it and it's never an issue at two warehouses in the Silicon Valley that I frequent. No one has even mentioned the lack of a picture.
- icapybara 2y agoJust a guess but maybe denying at time of purchase costs them more than it's worth. Lots of go-backs from a cart full of stuff, and some of it is perishable and you don't know how long it's been in the cart, so more shrink. Cheaper just to deny at the entrance.
- MostlyStable 2y agoDenying at time of purchase would be a significant (depending on frequency of occurrence I guess) additional workload on staff. The guests certainly aren't going to be restocking all the stuff they grabbed. As for the customer friendliness of the proposed scanner, in my mind it depends on how quick and easy it is. If it's not too much of a slowdown relative to the current "flash my card at the staff person", then I don't think I'd mind it. However, if it starts causing lines to get in, yeah that's going to be a problem. Additionally, I agree with the other commenter that, just from the details as provided, I don't even see how the proposal will solve the problem. A scanner will check that the card is a valid card, but unless it's paired with some kind of facial recognition, I'm not sure how it will prevent card sharing.
- mannyv 2y agoThey already deny at checkout if your picture doesn't match.
- infecto 2y agoThey have your picture on file. The reader at the entrance shows your picture to the employee. No need for facial recognition. And its practically no different then what they do today. Years ago the club warehouses used to do a quick look at the picture side, not a huge change in friendliness in my opinion.
- MostlyStable 2y agoMy card has my picture. If an employee is going to look at it, then no reader needed. And you point out that they used to do this. What is the reader accomplishing then?
- infecto 2y agoYou are creating a scenario that does not even exist. The card readers are already implemented in stores, they have tested the time savings. The card reader process is essentially the same. You flash your barcode to the reader instead of the person. Why would there be a line, its not like you are crossing the Berlin wall, its just a check a more rigid check at entrance instead of checkout. Of course your picture is on your card but I think we would all agree that a picture on a 3x2 credit card that can be B&W is inferior to the color picture displayed on an ipad. Having an associate look at a picture on the back of a credit card is slow. It depends on store location but they have always had varying degrees of checking that you are the owner of the card. Costco makes a majority of their profit from Membership fees, hence the desire to enforce the long standing rule.
- slashdave 2y agoIsn't it more friendly to let the customer know in advance instead of wasting their time browsing the store only to be stopped at the cash register?
- drblastoff 2y agoThe card check at entrance and “club” concept serves another purpose: it deters random people from going to Costco to steal or cause problems. Retail theft is a major problem for most stores these days, unfortunately.
- mannyv 2y agoThe cashier will deny at purchase time at well.
- schmookeeg 2y agoSomething changed at the top with costco a year or three ago. The friendliness seems gone, and replaced by some really strange/hostile policies. I ended up in a shouting match with the tire center manager who claimed I was in a "car accident", and thus my road hazard warranty was void after I took a nail on the freeway. I was not in a car accident, I would have known -- I was there. 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back grappling with him and the store manager -- for them to try saving a $90 pro-rata credit. My tire business has been pulled out of costco after like 25 years. It's getting tough to justify the rest of the membership. It's always a shopping hellscape there, and everyone is rude/grumpy.
- urda 2y agoYour spouse can (and should) have their own card. No, your kids do not need to constantly be in the Costco.
- morkalork 2y agoYes, please leave your kids at home!
- nirav72 2y agoUnless I read it wrong - it seems that the change is that instead of a person waving you into the store when you show the card, they'll require scanning the card. Not sure how that will stop anyone from sharing their card with a non-member. I don't think I've ever had store employee take a close look at my card when entering a Costco to confirm that I'm the member. So not sure how this will discourage 'sharing' the membership card. Unless they plan on using facial recognition. Which is also doubtful, since membership Id photos are taken using a cheap webcam at the customer service counter.
- Mathnerd314 2y agoAt least at our Costco store, there was no person at the entrance. I could and did just walk in and look around the store before I decided to get a membership. Honestly if I had wanted to swipe something and stick it in my pocket I might have gotten away with it. But now it's a scanner. So certainly an improvement to security in that respect.
- daft_pink 2y agoI don’t really get how change is a crackdown either. They check at the entrance and the register already.
- readthenotes1 2y agoNo more inexpensive hotdogs for nonmembers
- noxon 2y agoHow does this work, given the pharmacy is open to non-members? Additionally, anyone with a gift card is entitled to shop there without a membership. I don’t see how the burden on cashiers is changed.
- al_borland 2y agoAlcohol as well, non-members can go in at buy that too. > "It helps speed up the process," Richard Galanti, Costco's former chief financial officer, told Axios in January. > "When you go through checkout, particularly self-checkout, there's not someone there having to review the card again," Galanti said. As far as I can tell, it's not going to prevent reviews at checkout (unless there are scanners there), not to mention the card still needs to be used to tie the purchases to the member... it's not like they are going to be like Amazon Go. Even if it does speed up checkout, it will just move the slowdown from checkout to store entry, so it doesn't seem like anything is actually being saved.
- rpvnwnkl 2y agoNothing is being saved? Well from the store manager’s perspective, the only time being wasted now belongs to the customers, and isn’t any of his or his budget’s concern.
- infecto 2y agoCouldn't the POS pull up your picture when they scan the card? No idea if they do or not but would make sense. There definitely is savings but I think you are reading it the wrong way. The ultimate goal here is to prevent people from using someone else's card. Costco makes all their money from the annual membership dues. I suspect they have tested this and there is savings with doing proper checks at store entry and saving the hassle of carts full of goods when denied at checkout. Ultimately driving more memberships.
- al_borland 2y agoMy picture is on my Costco card and I have to hand it to the cashier when I checkout. I’m not sure what scanning on entry does that would eliminate that step.
- daveoc64 2y agoI've only been to Costco once here in the UK (as I'm not eligible for membership - the criteria are quite tight here), but they had a person and a scanner checking cards on the entrance. Maybe that's because of the stricter eligibility rules.
- hollerith 2y agoNow I'm curious what the criteria are. Oxbridge graduate?
- daveoc64 2y agoYou have to work in specific industries or work in specific job roles: https://customercare.costco.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/85/kw/membership https://customercare.costco.co.uk/app/answers/detail/a_id/85... Apparently, by targeting the Wholesale market - plus a limited range of general consumers, they are able to class their stores as wholesale warehouses, which can be opened in locations where a general retail store wouldn't be permitted. That makes purchasing or leasing land for the store much cheaper.
- hollerith 2y agoThanks.
- ponty_rick 2y agohttps://www.costco.co.uk/membership-individual-questions https://www.costco.co.uk/membership-individual-questions Looks like you need to be employed in certain sectors, or have your company hook you up. Sounds almost like a credit union.
- OptionOfT 2y agoOh wow, sounds like what the Makro used to to in Belgium for the longest time. You could only get in if you had a BTW number (think registered company, including self employed.). But they stopped doing that ~10 years ago or so.
- batch12 2y agohttps://archive.is/foyma https://archive.is/foyma
- freitzkriesler2 2y agoAm I the only one that hates shopping at Costco? I'm 5 seconds away from cancelling it and joining the evil sam Walton empire because they have curbside pick up, scan and go, and store lay outs that rarely change. Their stores are so damn frustrating and I hate spending whole afternoons shopping there.
- gamepsys 2y agoWalmart curbside is huge for those that are short on time, but Costco has cheaper prices and better products.
- freitzkriesler2 2y agoHaven't found a price difference between Costco and Sam's. They're about the same for what I buy meat, fruit, and veg
- mdorazio 2y agoPersonally, I love Costco and find their product quality and employees to be better than Walmart / Sam's Club. The number of Costco members keeps increasing year over year so clearly they're doing something right [1]. [1] https://www.contimod.com/costco-statistics/ https://www.contimod.com/costco-statistics/
- freitzkriesler2 2y agoAfter shopping at both, the quality difference is non-existent. The variety of products at Costco is better but my staples inside bulk meats, veg, and fruits and not housewares or dry goods so its a wash.
- orev 2y agoScanning the card would allow them to monitor the frequency that any particular member goes to the store, and with data analysis they would be able to detect unusual patterns, such as the same member going in multiple times per day/week.
- Someone1234 2y agoThey can already do that when a purchase is made, since that already requires a membership.
- morkalork 2y agoRight? Checking at the door is all "security theatre", you have to scan your card when you check out anyways.
- infecto 2y agoIn case others did not know, Costco makes the majority of their money from annual memberships, not the inventory they sell.
- trescenzi 2y agoI know this is true but I find it so hard to believe. Are there really that many people out there not getting value out of their memberships? I saved enough money on tires compared to everywhere around me to cover multiple years of my membership fees. I guess the math just lines up in a way I don't understand.
- infecto 2y agoIts simply that the inventory they sell is most likely priced in such a way that it covers the cost of the product and its existence inside of the warehouse. Costco has very aggressive vendor terms and they sell the inventory before they are having to pay the vendor for it. Said another way, they break even or have slight margin on selling products, this includes the executive membership annual check.
- trescenzi 2y agoRight ok that makes sense.
- eddd-ddde 2y agoThey dont lose money on those sells, rather they just don't markup like everyone else does. The mark-up on products tends to be so big that it looks impossible to buy at Costco prices without costing them money.
- katzinsky 2y agoAldi is usually still cheaper per unit IME.
- tiktir 2y agoI doubt there is very little cost to memberships for Costco. So it has extremely high margins. Since the products that are being sold in Costco are close to wholesale they also carry a margin, just not as high. So even if 100% of the memberships were used, they would still make a nice tidy profit. Purely because the products literally pay for themselves. This is primarily due to how Costco has low costs to having little need for additional warehouses outside of their public warehouses. Their cost of goods sold vs revenue is about 87%. So about 13% profit. That is just the goods themselves. So the more I think about this, there has to be some sort of cost to memberships. Especially for people arriving, because if there was no cost, why implement these scanners? While memberships help with profit, there is a huge cost to implementing something that could scare your customers away. I also think the whole "makes a majority of their money" needs further explanation. The highest percentage of their profit is from the membership fees. The highest percentage of revenue is from the goods sold is my bet.
- xnx 2y agoAutomated scanning can be correlated with security video feeds for facial recognition/confirmation against saved ID photo.
- emrah 2y agoThey check them at the door but never verify the picture
- nirav72 2y agoEven then they don't really examine the card. Most of the time I just flash my card for a brief second while I'm walking and the person at the door just nods and moves onto the next person behind me.
- gamepsys 2y agoGreat, let's just put membership data on an app and let NFC wave us through. Why are we carrying around these plastic cards? You either have to make it a daily carry in your wallet or risk leaving it at home.
- underlogic 2y agoThey searched my bag one day when I was leaving. Said the small print in the membership agreement gave them the right to search without my consent. So I turned around went to the desk and cancelled the membership. Never going back. They can keep the $5 chicken
- andrewinardeer 2y agoIsn't that on you for not reading the fine print of their agreement?
- wyre 2y agoIt’s completely fair to draw a line at not giving up consent to be searched and canceling a Costco membership that signs away those rights lines up with that.
- underlogic 2y agoThe prices aren't that much better than Amazon. I'm not signing my basic rights away for a discount on a crate of noodles. It's offensive as well. When did it become Ok to presume your customer is a criminal? Sure if you have video feed of them stealing stop them. But "random" searches when they don't like the look of your face is crossing a line.
- OptionOfT 2y agoI'd love to see what is cheaper on Amazon than at Costco.
- underlogic 2y agoMost Macbooks same price but no membership fee at Amazon so cheaper effectively. Prime not required
- OptionOfT 2y agoYour bag as in your bag of purchases? Or something like a hand-bag / purse / backpack? > Costco reserves the right to inspect any container, backpack, briefcase, or other bag, upon entering or leaving the warehouse and to refuse entry to anyone at our discretion. Which makes me wonder, can I refuse a Walmart receipt check? I never agreed to their inspection.
- david38 2y agoToday was the first time I was presented with a scanner at Costco