Costco’s New Checkout System Will Get You Out in 8 Seconds 

If there’s one thing Costco will do, it’s rejig. This retailer simply loves to rejig. Although it’s made its name partly on the fact that some things never change at its stores (namely, the price of its hot dogs and rotisserie chicken), other things are constantly in flux, as the supermarket works to both improve customer experience and adjust what its membership means for customers. Generally, Costco keeps pretty quiet about doing these things – until earnings call time rolls around. Then, four times a year, we get a sneak peek at what’s been happening behind the Costco curtain. 

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That’s happened once again in the last couple of days, and during Costco’s recent Q2 earnings call, it told investors that it was improving its checkouts. And honestly? We’re intrigued. 

Pre-Scan, Pay, and You’re Outta There

In the earnings call, Chuck Grom, analyst with Gordon Haskett, told the world that the retailer is trialing automated pay stations “that will allow members to pay for their pre-scanned orders seamlessly with an average transaction time of around 8 seconds.” This technology, which was tested in mid-2025 across a few dozen stores, lets customers instead merrily scan items as they throw them in their cart while they walk around the store (which, incidentally, also helps them keep an eye on how much they’re spending – which is never a bad thing in this day and age). Once they’re finished shopping, they then verify their items with a Costco employee, pay at one of the automated stations, and then stroll out of there. No waiting in line, no getting home later than expected, no stress. 

Grom stated in the call that “early results show this is improving the flow of traffic, and we’ve received great member feedback.” That said, this is still in trial phase, so we may not be seeing it in Costcos everywhere that soon (not even in the best stores around the country – sorry, Idaho), but if it’s as good as they say, everyone will be paying through this method at some point. 

Automation Everywhere

Costco is far from the only store that’s been toying with ways to automate its purchasing experience. In fact, it’s coming to it kinda late. Walmart has been really pushing its Mobile Scan & Go option for a while now, and other places are getting technologized in different ways, with McDonald’s trialling AI chatbots in its drive-thrus. There’s no denying it; the world’s a-changing, people. 

Costco seemed to allude to its increasing push towards technological solutions (and by “solutions” we mean, ways for people to spend their money) in other places in its earnings call, with Grom discussing the fact that the store’s in active talks with “the leading AI companies.” Just keep the robots away from how we hack our chicken bakes, guys. That takes a human touch.