Costco's New Plan To Speed Up Checkout Takes Around '8 Seconds'

While there are many things people like about Costco — from its delicious food court items to its bakery selection — one less beloved aspect of the Costco shopping experience is its checkout. We're always trying to check out faster at Costco, but even when you follow all the rules and utilize every shortcut you can, it's oftentimes still difficult to exit the store in a timely manner. Luckily, it seems those who have had frustrating run-ins with the long lines and faulty self-checkout systems have better days ahead of them as Costco has recently announced it's been experimenting with a pre-scan system that allows customers to check out faster than ever before.

This pilot program was a major topic of discussion during Costco's Q2 2026 earnings call on March 5 and has already piqued the interest of many Costco shoppers. Gary Millerchip — the executive vice president and CFO of Costco Wholesale — said this pilot program has the ability to reduce the checkout experience to a mere eight seconds of transaction time, so it's hard not to get excited by the prospect. Unfortunately, there was no news regarding when this program will be implemented nationwide. However, given that the early results have been deemed successful by Costco management, it's likely only a matter of time before we see pre-scan all across the country.

This revolutionary checkout technology has the ability to lessen wait times tenfold, but what actually is it? Well, the new pre-scan system was rolled out at 27 stores in May 2025 and allowed Costco members to scan items' barcodes with their phones using the Costco app while shopping. This allows customers to go at their own pace when scanning their items. Then, when they're done shopping, all they need to do is show the Costco employee their personalized QR code to verify their total and complete the purchase. This results in a checkout experience that is as easy as the automated checkout systems Aldi and Amazon have debuted in the past, but still maintains the human element at the end. By essentially giving each customer their own scanner and having them check in with an employee to pay their total, it creates an experience that Costco believes will stand out from the crowd in terms of how store checkouts are done.

Beyond making things easier for those checking out at Costco, this system further promotes the Costco app, which the company has been making an effort to flesh out over the past several years. While it already carries customers' membership IDs and keeps digital receipts, the implementation of the app acting as a pre-scanner as you shop could make the Costco app even more vital to members of the wholesale retailer.