On the heels of its move to pair membership cards with photo IDs at checkout, Costco is making more changes that will make it even harder for people to share their memberships with friends.
The retailer has recently started requiring members to scan their cards when they enter the store, as opposed to the long-standing practice of just flashing a card at the store employee on duty. Photos posted on Reddit have shown the scanners at an undisclosed location.
The poster noted that there are two scanners at the entrance to the store, with employees stationed at each. Once members scan their card, a display shows the face on file for the employee to check. If the shopper is obviously not the cardmember, they could be turned away.
The use of the facial scanners did not replace the photo ID verification at checkout at those locations, according to the Reddit poster.
Costco has been adamant about cracking down on membership sharing, saying in a statement to media last June “We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members. Costco is able to keep our prices as low as possible because our membership fees help offset our operational expenses, making our membership fee and structure important to us.”
The Costco crackdown follows a similar ban on password sharing by Netflix and other streaming television services. While unpopular with subscribers, that action has been a net positive for the streaming service. Data from third-party analyst Antenna shows there has been a big surge in new user signups on Netflix since May 23, when Netflix announced it would begin curbing the long-accepted practice. Nearly 100,000 people signed up for accounts on both May 26 and May 27, Antenna said.
The crackdown comes as more shoppers use self-checkout at the stores. It also comes as people grow more and more concerned about the cost of groceries, increasing the appeal of bulk buying. Costco, though, charges a $60 annual membership fee to shop at its stores. That price has been the same since 2017 and many people have wondered when the company will increase it.
So far it has resisted, but last March CFO Richard Galanti told investors “It’s a question of when, not if.”