Costco tried something new at checkout. The CEO says it’s working surprisingly well.
Costco's latest checkout improvement that the big box retailer quietly launched is already helping customers, according to CEO Ron Vachris. The mechanism that resembles Sam's Club's scan and go feature allows members to use the Costco app to scan their items during the purchase and quickly pay and leave at the checkout. After rolling out the feature last year, Vachris claimed in Costco's latest earnings call that stores witnessed 20% faster checkout speeds, The Street reported.
The latest feature allows shoppers to scan items as they pick them up from the shelves, using their phone, pay for them, and then bypass the checkout lines by showing a QR code at the checkout to verify their purchase. While some shoppers complained that the interface is slow to work, Vachris touted its success, saying it has improved the shopping experience. "In the warehouse implementation of scanning memberships at entry, the Costco Digital Wallet and pre-scanning small- to medium-sized baskets is leading to better member experience and improved productivity," he said during the chain’s first-quarter earnings call.
Earlier in December, Vachris stated that the company is continuing to implement technology to “strengthen the fundamentals that make Costco," The US Sun reported. "We aim to make shopping at Costco easier, faster, and more personal, no matter where or how our members choose to shop," he added. The CEO explained that across the company's U.S. warehouses, it has witnessed record levels of productivity in the final weeks of the third quarter. “Progress has already begun and is delivering tangible results,” he said about the major investments made to improve the in-store experience.
Apart from the checkout technology, Vachris shared that Costco plans to open additional warehouses and improve parking for the ease of shoppers.“We’ve been about 50-50, half of the expansion in the U.S. and half outside of the U.S., and now we’re seeing even more opportunities in Canada, North America, and Mexico. So, a good balance, about half of the 30 should be outside the U.S., we see in the next five years,” Vachris noted in the earnings call.
The CEO seemed to be aware of customers' struggles of finding parking at busy stores, saying, Costco typically does five or six warehouse relocations each year, and in those, the moves from a building that is underserving the market and goes into a larger facility, better parking, and expanded gas stations.” He shared that five relocations are planned in 2026, and three of them will be in the U.S., according to The Sun.
Costco's latest moves have drawn praise from industry experts as well. “Costco has been incredibly successful, and not by accident. They place their stores in markets where they are likely to succeed. This means the market has the right population density, the right economic and competitive profile, and can be efficiently supported by its supply chain,” Gary Sankary, a retail veteran with 50 years of experience, wrote in a piece on RetailWire.
More on Market Realist:
Costco shopper buys an item eligible for a $40 rebate — then he faced an unexpected problem
Popular chicken chain shuts down 1,000 outlets as it couldn't match Costco's pricing
Costco quietly introduces a new credit card perk that could help you during tough times
