Costco shoppers share their best-kept secrets to beat long queues at checkout: "Don't go during..."

Costco is an attractive destination for shoppers looking to save more on their monthly grocery bills and try out free samples in its aisles among other perks. However, the great deals attract too many people which inevitably leads to long queues at checkout counters. For decades, customers have been trying to figure out ways to avoid the long wait at overcrowded Costco stores. Finally, a Reddit user u/VeterinarianNo2064 decided to post the burning question on the popular forum, r/Costco.

Hacks From the Online Community

Sharing a picture of customers waiting at the checkout counter, the user wrote that the line "goes all the way to dairy in the back." The shopper believed Costco needed to adopt new tech and they were even considering switching to Sam's Club.

While the shopper seemed fed up, Redditors had plenty of advice to offer. Many suggested that it is best to avoid shopping at peak times as the cue is the longest during those hours. "Go at peak times, wait in peak lines. I've never stood in line for more than a few minutes because I go at 630pm on a Tuesday" shared u/Kill_doozer. Another user added: "Don’t go on the weekend if ya can’t handle the crowds."

Several users suggested that there were other ways to skip the cue and get to the registers first. "Go up to the registers. Usually, there are a bunch of idiots waiting in huge lines for 3-4 registers on the right, and then 10 registers on the left with only 2-3 people a piece. And no, I’m not suggesting you cut the line, I’m talking about registers that hardly anyone is using," u/redfieldp wrote.

Since the user highlighted the need for new technology and innovation, shoppers had some suggestions for that as well. "If they would allow us to use the handheld scanner in the self-checkout it would be a lot more efficient. But no all the items have to be put on the friggen scale," suggested u/yardjockey. 

Several others suggested that the Redditor's thought of trying Sam's Club was a great idea. "I think Sam's Club does a great job giving its members the ability to pay and checkout with their own phone. If Costco did this, I'd have no issues at any hour," shared u/HazeCorps22.

According to a Quartz report, Walmart is winning the shopping game with consumers from all income groups. At the same time, Target is trying to recapture some of the market share by introducing price cuts and discount events. Meanwhile, Costco has taken a Netflix-like approach as it has cracked down heavily on membership sharing. It has introduced new technology to make sure only paid members get to enter the stores and enjoy exclusive deals. 

However, when it comes to dwell time, Costco shoppers are frustrated. According to a new report from Placer.ai, Costo has the highest dwell time for shoppers in stores. The average comes out to be about 37.3 minutes in 2024, which is slightly more than Walmart's 31.8-minute dwell time. Meanwhile, Target is the best option in this regard since shoppers have to wait for little more than 27 minutes on average.