Costco follows Walmart in new plan to solve major customer complaint

Costco is following in Walmart’s footsteps to use technology to help eliminate a major customer complaint – long lines at checkout.

Warehouse club chain Costco has launched a scan-and-go pilot program in an effort to reduce lines, speed up checkout and free up parking spaces. Similar to a system used by Walmart-owned Sam’s Club, Costco’s system allows people to scan QR codes on items with their phones, build a digital cart and then pay through the app.

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Food & Wine said there are no plans to phase out traditional checkout lines and Costco’s scan-and-go would be an option and not a requirement. It’s not clear where the new system is being put into use but CEO Ron Vachris said in an earnings call the test has been “extremely successful.”

“Our operations team is really focused on the front-end, and we know there’s many benefits to that part of the Costco experience of moving people through much better,” Vachris said. “The early results have been very positive, with great adoption from our members.”

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According to Parade.com, Sam’s Club first rolled out scan-and-go technology in 2013, though the early plans only allowed customers to scan items via an app and then pay at self-checkout. A later version allowed users to scan and pay entirely within the app.

Sam’s Club has since taken things a step further by introducing vision and digital technology to make verification and receipts and the exit process easier. Shopping cart images will be captured by a camera that will then use AI to verify payments, eliminating the wait to exit and ending the process of someone manually checking a receipt.

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The technology is currently being piloted in 10 locations with plans to roll it out to all Sam’s clubs by the end of this year.