April 3, 2026
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Will Automated Pay Stations Pay Off For Costco?
Costco is piloting automated pay stations that enable members to pay for pre-scanned orders in a checkout time averaging around eight seconds.
Ron Vachris, president and CEO, announced the initiative on Costco’s second quarter analyst call in early December. He said, “Early results show this is improving the flow of traffic, and we have received great member feedback.”
As described on social media, instead of scanning items at the checkout terminal, a Costco employee scans the shopper’s membership card and all of the items in their cart while the shopper is standing in line. The customer then heads to a special pre-scan register, scans their membership card to view their whole order, and pays.
Costco’s Move Toward More Streamlined Checkout Draws Praise, Criticism
The move has earned generally positive feedback on social media.
In a Reddit post about the new technology, one member commented, “Nice. So I don’t need to unload my stuff from my cart!” In another comment, a user agreed and said, “That is 100% my biggest complaint about self-checkout. It’s bulk items. Don’t make me take them out of the cart!”
Costco has been experimented with self-checkout to reduce its typically long cashiered lines, but self-scanning is a challenge for the basket sizes at a Costco.
A November 2024 survey from NCR Voyix, a unified commerce supporter, found while self-checkout was preferred by 63% of Gen Zers and 45% of millennials, 60% of shoppers who do not frequent self-checkout would be more inclined to do so if grocery stores made it easier to check out with more than 15 items.
Costco’s self-checkouts often have employees on hand to help scan items for shoppers with overloaded carts. Recently, Costco began removing hand-held scanners from kiosks in some stores, reportedly due to theft as well as challenges customers were having scanning heavy loads.
Costco’s new pre-scan kiosks have been described as similar to Sam’s Club’s “Scan & Go” technology, whereby shoppers scan items using the retailer’s app, pay digitally, and present a QR code at the exit. However, the overriding criticism over Costco’s new pre-scan kiosks is that the system doesn’t allow customers to scan their own items, exactly similar to Sam’s Club.
Costco reportedly tested “Scan & Go” mobile apps last year. One TikToker said in response to a video of Costco’s new technology involving pre-scanning by employees, “Lame. Just use your phone and walk out. Sam’s has that.”
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Discussion Questions
Does Costco’s new automated pay stations involving employees pre-scanning shopping carts in checkout lines notably improve the checkout process?
What’s the likely reason Costco hasn’t embraced a ‘scan & go’ app technology similar to Sam’s Club?
Poll
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As long as this is merely “an option,” it sounds like a winner. Those who take advantage of it will benefit. They must NOT, though, make the Ikea mistake of forcing all checkout into a single pattern. In stores where customers buy extensive shopping baskets of goods, many shoppers RELY on human assistance. To eliminate that assistance leads to serious dissatisfaction. In truth, I’ve not been back to Ikea since a particularly horrific “use self-checkout or else” experience.
Costco’s new automated pay stations that involve employees pre-scanning carts appear to be a practical, incremental improvement rather than a transformational change. Early pilots suggest that pre-scanning items while customers wait in line can reduce transaction time to as little as eight to ten seconds, improving traffic flow and reducing the need to unload carts at the register. Initial feedback has been mixed but generally positive, particularly for larger basket sizes where checkout friction is greatest.
This approach aligns well with Costco’s operating model. Most Costco baskets are large and often contain bulky items, which makes traditional self-checkout or customer-driven scanning less efficient. Employee-assisted pre-scanning allows Costco to maintain speed, accuracy, and control while still improving throughput — all critical in a high-volume warehouse environment.
As for why Costco hasn’t fully embraced a Scan & Go model like Sam’s Club, there are several likely factors. Costco operates on extremely thin margins, which makes shrink and scanning errors more impactful. Reports indicate that Costco has historically been cautious about customer-led scanning due to loss prevention and accuracy concerns, particularly given the size and complexity of bulk purchases. Additionally, Costco has traditionally leaned into employee-assisted service and operational discipline, rather than shifting more of the checkout process to customers.
In contrast, Sam’s Club has aggressively leaned into Scan & Go and even checkout-free experiences, positioning technology as a differentiator. Costco appears to be taking a more measured approach — improving speed while maintaining control and accuracy.
Ultimately, Costco’s strategy reflects its broader philosophy: incremental operational improvement over radical transformation. Pre-scanning may not be as futuristic as Scan & Go, but if it speeds checkout, maintains accuracy, and protects margins, it fits well within Costco’s disciplined operating model.
Costco’s pre-scan approach is less about technology and more about smart labor redeployment. By moving the scanning effort into queue time, Costco converts idle wait time into productive throughput without sacrificing the employee accountability that keeps shrink in check. Costco’s thin-margin, bulk-basket model makes scanning accuracy and loss prevention structurally more consequential than at Sam’s. What works for one membership model doesn’t automatically transfer to another, and strategic fit matters more than feature parity. For a business where operational discipline is the competitive moat, that is exactly the right call.
Anything that makes it easier for the customer/member is a plus. The right solution will take into account all issues, good and bad, such as ease of checkout and the potential for misuse (theft/shrinkage). One day, there will be technology that allows customers to load and go (bypassing the checkout process completely) and also prevents nefarious consumers (a.k.a. shoplifters) from taking advantage of a system that caters to honest consumers.
I am undecided. Providing additional personnel to scan your basket while you wait, is going to cost Costco. It’s like opening a new checkout lane with a cashier, but without the checkout lane. Additionally, the sample video shows few layers of product in the basket. Many, if not most, baskets at a Costco have many products in them in scramble, not in layers for the video. That makes the time to scan and the accuracy of having scanned ALL the items in the basket questionable. I hope to see a follow-up story on this.
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As long as this is merely “an option,” it sounds like a winner. Those who take advantage of it will benefit. They must NOT, though, make the Ikea mistake of forcing all checkout into a single pattern. In stores where customers buy extensive shopping baskets of goods, many shoppers RELY on human assistance. To eliminate that assistance leads to serious dissatisfaction. In truth, I’ve not been back to Ikea since a particularly horrific “use self-checkout or else” experience.
Costco’s new automated pay stations that involve employees pre-scanning carts appear to be a practical, incremental improvement rather than a transformational change. Early pilots suggest that pre-scanning items while customers wait in line can reduce transaction time to as little as eight to ten seconds, improving traffic flow and reducing the need to unload carts at the register. Initial feedback has been mixed but generally positive, particularly for larger basket sizes where checkout friction is greatest.
This approach aligns well with Costco’s operating model. Most Costco baskets are large and often contain bulky items, which makes traditional self-checkout or customer-driven scanning less efficient. Employee-assisted pre-scanning allows Costco to maintain speed, accuracy, and control while still improving throughput — all critical in a high-volume warehouse environment.
As for why Costco hasn’t fully embraced a Scan & Go model like Sam’s Club, there are several likely factors. Costco operates on extremely thin margins, which makes shrink and scanning errors more impactful. Reports indicate that Costco has historically been cautious about customer-led scanning due to loss prevention and accuracy concerns, particularly given the size and complexity of bulk purchases. Additionally, Costco has traditionally leaned into employee-assisted service and operational discipline, rather than shifting more of the checkout process to customers.
In contrast, Sam’s Club has aggressively leaned into Scan & Go and even checkout-free experiences, positioning technology as a differentiator. Costco appears to be taking a more measured approach — improving speed while maintaining control and accuracy.
Ultimately, Costco’s strategy reflects its broader philosophy: incremental operational improvement over radical transformation. Pre-scanning may not be as futuristic as Scan & Go, but if it speeds checkout, maintains accuracy, and protects margins, it fits well within Costco’s disciplined operating model.
Costco’s pre-scan approach is less about technology and more about smart labor redeployment. By moving the scanning effort into queue time, Costco converts idle wait time into productive throughput without sacrificing the employee accountability that keeps shrink in check. Costco’s thin-margin, bulk-basket model makes scanning accuracy and loss prevention structurally more consequential than at Sam’s. What works for one membership model doesn’t automatically transfer to another, and strategic fit matters more than feature parity. For a business where operational discipline is the competitive moat, that is exactly the right call.
Anything that makes it easier for the customer/member is a plus. The right solution will take into account all issues, good and bad, such as ease of checkout and the potential for misuse (theft/shrinkage). One day, there will be technology that allows customers to load and go (bypassing the checkout process completely) and also prevents nefarious consumers (a.k.a. shoplifters) from taking advantage of a system that caters to honest consumers.
I am undecided. Providing additional personnel to scan your basket while you wait, is going to cost Costco. It’s like opening a new checkout lane with a cashier, but without the checkout lane. Additionally, the sample video shows few layers of product in the basket. Many, if not most, baskets at a Costco have many products in them in scramble, not in layers for the video. That makes the time to scan and the accuracy of having scanned ALL the items in the basket questionable. I hope to see a follow-up story on this.