Costco is making a major change to its checkout lanes — and it could impact many members

Costco is one of America's leading retail chains because it delivers a no-frills shopping experience for members. It calls its stores “warehouses,” and they’re set up with merchandise on pallets, unlike other traditional stores. In a bid to keep it warehouse-like, Costco has made a slight change to the layout of its checkout lanes, pushing the self-checkout lanes all the way to the back. While there has been no official announcement about the change, the move has received mixed reviews on social media.

According to a video shared on Facebook, Costco’s self-checkout lanes are now located at the end of all the lanes, and shoppers believe this move is intended to boost efficiency. The video shot by a shopper showed that the checkout lanes with employees were lined up at one side, while the self-checkout lane was pushed almost into the farmer's market.

In the caption of the video, the user wrote, "All the self-checkout lanes will be moved to the very end. Apparently, the VP wants all warehouses to be uniform." Another thing that was clear in the video was the difference in checkout times at the two different types of lanes, as the ones with employees had people queuing up while the self-checkout lane was nearly empty.  

The post received mixed reviews regarding the move, with some shoppers calling it a masterstroke and others claiming that it won't be sustainable. One person wrote, “I think it makes it more efficient. You’ll always see ends of each side have barely any people while a lot of ppl wait for middle lines," wrote one user, @Allen Zhen.  “Correct. So the self-checkout line will not back up into the center walk aisle leading to the other lines. No traffic jams," added another user, @Daniel Hazelton. 

However, some shoppers weren't happy with the move. "I agree about uniformity, when/where it works. Costco is already one of the leaders in hiring good people and training them for maximum retention and satisfaction," wrote @Ray Chu, implying that manned lanes worked better than self-checkout. "Hard to make all Costcos uniform when they have different layouts to begin with. Some exits are left of the registers, and some are right. Food courts have different layouts and pickup procedures, too," added @Jeff Floyd. One user even raised concerns of theft, saying, "Vallejo used to have a self-checkout at the far end, but got rid of it due to too many customers stealing.”

Earlier, Costco CEO Ron Vachris called the self-checkout system a largely abandoned experiment, adding that the warehouse retailer was introducing a new checkout system where human cashiers would still be in the mix to speed up the process for members. “Another way we are improving the member experience is through the rollout of enhanced checkout technology in all U.S. warehouses,” Vachris said during Costco's fourth-quarter earnings call, as per The Street.  

He explained that the system will allow employees to scan small and medium-sized transactions while the member is still in the line, and when they arrive at the counter, nothing will need to be removed from the cart, and the customer can simply pay and leave. The 'pre-scanning' system is already operational in a few locations, and a broader rollout is expected in 2026.

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