As I was making my monthly pilgrimage to Costco this weekend, I couldn’t help but ponder the inefficiencies of:
- A person checking your Costco card at the entrance.
- The exit greeters slowing down the exit lanes.
Costco is one of my favorite retailers for providing incredible value per dollar spent. It is famous for not marking its prices above 15% of the cost, whereas other retailers routinely mark up prices by 50-70%.
It also has an amazing business model where they pay their suppliers after the products are sold from the aisles of Costco, leading to almost no inventory risk on its books!
For such an astute retailer, I wonder why they can’t automate the check-in process with a card reader?
Heck, we are in the Gen AI era!
Even if someone gets in without the card, it is not like they can purchase stuff without scanning their card at the checkout aisle.
The utility of exit greeters is even more difficult for me to understand.
Costco doesn’t have a major shoplifting problem given their focus on bulk selling. How are you going to hide 3 pounds of cashew bags anyways?
Costco says it is to prevent customers from being overcharged for double-scanned items or if the person helping with the checkout forgot to scan the bottom of the cart. Looking at you, all the Costco water bottle and paper towel enthusiasts.
Another reason someone mentioned on Reddit is to remind people to pick up gift cards from a different counter.
Seriously, though, can’t we just have a sign for that?
It feels like these practices, while ingrained in Costco culture, might be due for a refresh.
Why can’t we have an automated check-in like metro stations? It would improve the accuracy of validation and would easily break even on the cost in the long run.
What do you think? Are human entry and exit greeters relics of a bygone era, or do they still hold value in today’s Costco?
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