No membership? No service.
That’s always been Costco’s policy — but the wholesale retail giant is trying out new tactics to keep non-members out of its stores.
Costco, in an undated post to its site, announced that it would be rolling out membership scanners at the entrance of its stores and requiring members to show either a membership card with a photo, or one without a photo plus valid photo ID, before entering its hallowed concrete halls of free samples and oversized boxes of snacks.
“We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” Costco told CNN in a statement.
“If your membership is inactive, expired, or you would like to sign up for a new membership, the attendant will ask that you stop by the membership counter prior to entering the warehouse to shop,” Costco said in the post on its site. The crackdown on membership sharing at Costco follows a number of online subscription services that have attempted to deter password sharing among households, including Netflix and Disney Plus.
The Star reached out to Costco for comment, but did not hear back before publishing. Reports on social media show the new membership scanners have already made their way to stores across Canada.
The new scanners were tested out at a handful of Costco stores at the beginning of the year. The new policy shifts the ID and membership check to the front of the store, before shoppers enter, instead of at the regular and self-checkout registers.
Since the pandemic, more people have been sharing membership, Richard Galanti, Costco’s finance chief, told CNN in May. The company is built on its membership model — in 2023, it raked in $4.6 billion in membership fees from nearly 128 million members, according to its annual report. That’s all before an expected annual membership fee hike of $5 to $10 (depending on the type of membership) set for September — the first fee hike in seven years.
And though Galanti, who was known for defending Costco’s famous $1.50 hot dog deal, has stepped down as chief financial officer after more than four decades with the company, he’s remained with the company in an advisory role and the hot dog combo is “probably safe for a while.”
