Costco Is Scanning Membership Cards At The Door … But That Could Be A Good Thing

People had been sharing Costco memberships for years before they started sharing their Netflix accounts, meaning that the warehouse retail chain has missed out on a considerable amount of revenue.

That’s why, when Costco announced a new strategy of scanning membership cards at the entrance, much of the public discussion hinged on whether this would be an effective strategy for cracking down on card borrowing. But there appears to be at least one other reason for the change, and it could make the shopping experience better in the long run.

Tracking groups, not just individuals

Sure, there’s clearly a motivation to ensure that only members themselves are getting the benefits of a membership. But like many other tech advancements, those scanners also serve other functions.

One notable example involves preparing for demand using up-to-the-minute data. Even though most Costco locations maintain at least moderate traffic all day, card scanners can alert staff to spikes that might require attention.

“It gives our operators real-time traffic counts throughout the day,” explained President and CEO Ron Vachris. “So we’re able to adjust front-end lines that we need to open and close lines based on the fluctuations of business. We can monitor our fresh foods a little better because we know what the traffic counts look like and so forth.”

Other potential benefits of the scanner

According to Vachris, the information captured by those new scanners will provide an array of valuable information about shoppers and inventory. For example, if a membership is about to expire, the system will provide an alert at the point of entry.

“We let them know if their renewal is due before they get to the front end,” Vachris explained.

Constantly updated traffic numbers can also help manage inventory, meaning Costco might have your favorites in stock more consistently.

Chris Agee October 22nd, 2024

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