Costco is adopting an electronic system to scan and pay for items in the store, according to statements from CEO Ron Vachris last week on an earnings call. “We’ve also engaged in some ‘Scan & Go done by Costco’ kind of tests that we’re doing out there that have been extremely successful of moving people through the lines and expediting the transactions,” Vachris said on the call, appearing to reference the technology already employed by the big-box retailer’s biggest rival, Sam’s Club. “We’ve seen some very, very early results that have been very positive and great adoption from our members—seeing that as well.”
“Scan & Go” is a trademarked name for the system employed by Sam’s Club, which allows customers to scan and pay for items through an app, bypassing even the self-checkout lines in their stores, which will soon be eliminated altogether. The system announced by Costco is its own attempt at a similar system, seeking to increase the speed with which customers can get out the door with their purchases. “We found that digital really enhances the speed of checkout, and so we are really working hard on the digital membership card usage,” Vachris said.
The new tech, which is being rolled out in collaboration with the grocery delivery service Instacart, is laid out in a guide online. The “Scan & Pay” system, as Costco calls it, works by having shoppers scan a QR code at the entrance with their smartphone, which they then use to scan the barcodes of items picked up in the store. This works for produce as well, as barcodes will show up on-screen at digital scales after weighing an item and keying in the appropriate code. Once they’re finished, shoppers select an option on the app to check out, which then brings up a QR code on their phone to be scanned as they exit.
Costco has generally been more reluctant than its rivals to embrace technology as quickly. The retailer added a feature to its app last September that showed customers if items were in stock at their local store, which rivals like Target and Wal-Mart already had on theirs for nearly two years. Perhaps Costco’s move to checkout-less shopping is an acknowledgement that their reluctance has proven costly, as Sam’s Club snatched Costco’s long-held top spot in customer satisfaction ratings earlier this year.
