As Southerners know, Costco is where you can buy bulk to host in style and on a budget. Costco is a great place to shop for pretty much anything, even lunch. The onion cheese pinwheel alone is worth the cost of membership.
However, there’s one small thing that no one likes about the store: the check-out lines. Actually, they aren’t a small thing at all. In fact, they tend to be very, very large, which is the problem. Seems like the powers that be at Costco have recognized this problem and are testing out some new technology that could help solve it.
Costco is reportedly starting to give its customers the power to scan their own purchases for checkout. This is not self-checkout, though, but scan-and-go technology that could speed up or eliminate checkout lines entirely, according to business news outlet The Street.
Here’s how it could work: Members will download an app, scan a QR code at the store, and then use their phones to scan items as they shop. When the cart is fully loaded with almond flour, garbage bags, and motor oil, members can simply pay via the app, and then head to the dedicated checkout line so a store associate can double-check the haul.
This should sound pretty familiar to Costco shoppers, as store associates already check receipts on the way out the door. Real Simple notes that anyone buying alcohol, tobacco, prepaid gift cards, and certain hazardous items will still need to use the regular checkout lane, which seems fair enough.
The line-shortening technology isn’t available at all stores yet, but The Street reports that Costco CEO Ron Vachris said early tests of the scan-and-go technology were “very positive.” Hopefully, the tech will be rolling out to stores soon so we can buy without standing in a long, long line.
