Costco members might see card scanners when they next visit

Costco shoppers may encounter membership card scanners at the doors to the warehouse retailer during an upcoming trip.

The company says on its customer service website that scanners “will be used at the entrance door of your local warehouse” in the coming months.

“Once deployed, prior to entering, all members must scan their physical or digital membership card by placing the barcode or QR Code against the scanner. Guests must also be accompanied by a valid member for entry,” Costco says. 

FOX Business reached out to the warehouse retailer for comment.

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This comes after reports surfaced in January of Costco trying out the membership card scanning devices at some locations. 

In early March, Richard Galanti, Costco’s CFO at the time, told analysts and investors during a quarterly earnings call that Costco was “actually doing testing on that too, in terms of having your card be scanned and reviewed when you walk in.”

Electronic membership card scanners have been used in the U.K. “for a few years,” he noted at the time.

Costco CEO Ron Vachris more recently touched on membership card scanners the business has been exploring in May.

He said the devices were “speeding up our registers significantly when we get all the scanning and memberships are verified at the front door.”

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Costco says on its website generally “only Costco members may purchase items” at the retailer. Its footprint spans over 880 warehouses in 14 countries.

Other recent membership-related moves Costco has taken include starting to ask shoppers to present their membership cards while using self-checkout and requiring a membership to use its food courts, as previously reported by FOX Business.

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Approximately 133.9 million people held Costco membership cards by the company’s latest count at the end of its third quarter. 

Membership fees have brought Costco over $3.3 million in revenue over the course of the first three quarters of its 2024 fiscal year, according to the company.