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Costco members took to social media to point out some things about the warehouse retailer that they believe could be improved.
While there are a lot of things to love about Costco, members of the Subordinates dedicated to Costco they identified crowds, layout and the retailer’s website as pain points in their shopping experience.
ua Reddit thread last month focused on the positives and negatives of Costco, multiple people pointed out the crowds at the retailer’s warehouses, with one user describing them as “crazy.”
Customers lined up at the checkout counter at a very busy Costco store in Queens, New York. (Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)
“I love Costco and I know the products are good and the policy is good, but I seriously can’t wait in a parking lot and in long lines every time I need a quick item,” said another Reddit user.
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“Whenever I go to Costco, no matter the day or time, I encounter huge crowds, with the checkout line averaging halfway to the back of the store,” a Costco member said in a separate thread three months ago. “Every passage is crowded with people, and the situation is made worse by free people who create artificial traffic jams at every intersection.”
Some users said they encountered fewer people when they visited at certain times, such as shortly after opening or before closing time.
Costco warehouse layouts, as well as the retailer’s practice of changing the location of items and frequently changing offerings, have surfaced in Costco subreddit threads.
One user suggested retailer having a map or adding signs above the aisles in warehouses could help, saying they spent “a lot of time going back and forth up and down each aisle” looking for items.
“You can’t count on the item you like/need staying in stock, because Costco is constantly changing their inventory,” said another. “But it also means they have new stuff all the time.”
Other criticisms of the layout focused on the traffic inside Costcos near the entrances and checkouts.
Costco may also bring updates to its website, according to fans on Reddit. Some have commented on its functionality and appearance.
Customers wait in line to check out at a Costco store on December 11, 2024 in Novato, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Meanwhile, others suggested that Costco should bring scan-and-go technology to its shopping experience.
FOX Business has reached out to the warehouse vendor for comment.
In its most recent annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the company said its concept focuses on “offering low prices to our members on a limited selection of national brand and private label products across a wide range of categories” that will “produce high volume of sales and quick stock turnover.” It typically offers less than 4,000 different products in its warehouses at any given time.
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Costco said on its website that it has a “treasure hunt atmosphere” in its nearly 900 warehouses.
“One of the most exciting things about shopping our warehouses is that you never know what amazing deals you’ll find from one visit to the next,” according to a page on the company’s website. “Since we are constantly changing and introducing new merchandise, we encourage you to purchase the items you are interested in as soon as possible to avoid missing out.”
With its layout, Costco seeks “economy and efficiency in the use of sales space, merchandise handling and inventory control,” according to its latest annual report. Its entry control and membership usage helps keep theft at lower levels than other retailers, according to the company.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CHARGE | COSTCO WHOLESALE CORP. | 943.19 | +23.44 |
+2.55% |
Asked about “scan and go” during Costco’s earnings call last month, CEO Ron Vachris told analysts and investors that the company hears about the technology from time to time.
He said self-policing “was a great option for our members and we focused on that.” Costco will “continue to look at the technology and how we can improve that front-end experience which is one key point,” according to Vachris.
The company began installing membership card scanners outside its US warehouses last summer.
Shoppers enter a Costco Wholesale Corp. warehouse. in Hawthorne, California on June 12, 2024. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images/Getty Images)
The scanners “took a lot of pressure off the cashiers and moving the lines, and we saw some nice productivity improvements when we did that,” Vachris said last month.
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During an earnings call earlier, the CEO said they helped Costco with its ability to “adjust the front lines we need to open and close lines based on business fluctuations” and speed up the checkout process by removing the “friction of membership verification” on the ledgers , among other benefits.
The company worked on both your website and app.
In September, for example, Costco executives said the company had improved “native search functionality” for the U.S. version of its app. As recently as December, CFO Gary Milership said Costco is “continuing[s] to move forward with our technology roadmap and improvements to the member experience,” such as adding a feature to check warehouse inventory through its app.
Some 138.8 million people have a Costco membership card, according to Costco.
