Costco’s Secret Checkout Experiment Might End Long Lines

For many shoppers, the worst part of a Costco run is not finding bulk bargains but inching through a checkout line that can snake halfway to the rotisserie-chicken case. Costco executives know it, too. On the company’s latest earnings call, CEO Ron Vachris revealed that select warehouses are piloting an in-house “Scan-and-Go” system, and early trials are already “moving people through the lines” much faster than before.

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How the Pilot Program Works

The concept is straightforward: after opening the Costco app, members scan a QR code to start a digital cart, then scan each item’s barcode as they shop. When they are done, they pay in the app and head to a dedicated confirmation station near the exit, where an employee verifies the e-receipt, similar to showing a paper receipt today. Alcohol, tobacco, gift cards, and other regulated items will still require a regular register, but most groceries and household goods qualify for mobile checkout.

Borrowing a Page from Sam’s Club

Costco is hardly the first warehouse club to try line-skipping tech. Rival Sam’s Club launched its own Scan & Go feature as a standalone app in 2016 and folded it into the main Sam’s app two years later. The payoff has been sizable: Walmart, Sam’s parent company, reports that one in three Sam’s shoppers now rely on mobile scanning, and usage has climbed 50 percent in just the last three years. That track record gives Costco confidence that its members—142 million worldwide—will embrace the convenience.

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What It Means for Shoppers

If the pilot expands, members could gain two checkout choices: keep the traditional lane (manned or self-checkout) or go fully mobile for a “grab-scan-go” experience. Even shoppers who stick with the old method should see shorter queues because every phone user removes another cart from the register lines. Costco says there are no plans to eliminate staffed checkouts, so tech-averse members can still pay the usual way.

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Next Steps and Roll-Out Timeline

Costco has not shared a public timetable or list of pilot locations, but the company’s history suggests a gradual approach—testing in a handful of clubs, tweaking the software, and then widening access region by region. Shoppers should watch for prompts in the Costco app and signage near the entrance in the months ahead.

For customers who grit their teeth every time they see a wall of shopping carts at the register, scan-and-go could turn the weekly bulk run from a test of patience into a quick pit stop—just in time for a summer stocked with beach towels, backyard grills, and, of course, that iconic $1.50 hot-dog combo.