Costco’s latest checkout push is meant to solve one of the warehouse chain’s oldest irritations: the long, slow crawl from cart to exit. The company has tested app-based Scan & Go, leaned harder into pre-scan technology, and said newer pay stations can process pre-scanned orders in about eight seconds. On paper, that sounds like relief. In practice, the reaction has been split. For many members, the friction was never just about waiting. It was about trust, routine, and whether a store built on simplicity is asking shoppers to do more of the work themselves while calling it progress. That tension is driving the backlash.
App Dependency Leaves Some Members Behind
The first complaint is simple: a faster lane should not require a newer phone, a charged battery, and comfort with apps for a paid membership.
Costco’s pilot asks members to scan items in the app, pay in the app, and then present a QR code at the exit. That may feel easy to regular digital shoppers, but it turns a basic store errand into a phone-centered process for everyone else.
For older members, less tech-confident shoppers, or anyone who treats Costco as a straightforward in-and-out trip, the change can read less like convenience and more like exclusion dressed up as efficiency. That is exactly where irritation starts.
Members Feel Like They Are Being Asked To Do More
Another sore point is philosophical. Costco built its reputation on low prices, quick trust, and a no-nonsense shopping rhythm.
Scan & Go is designed to cut lines, but it also shifts part of the cashier’s job onto the member. Every barcode has to be caught, every item has to be checked, and the burden of getting it right moves closer to the shopper instead of staying with the store.
That trade can feel backward to members who already pay an annual fee just to walk in the door. In their eyes, speed is welcome, but not when it comes with a quiet expectation that customers should self-manage more of the process than before.
The Exit Still Feels Like One More Hurdle
Some backlash comes from the fact that the promised shortcut still ends with another checkpoint, not a clean escape.
Under the pilot, members scan and pay through the Costco app, then show a QR code at the exit. That is cleaner than unloading a cart at a register, but it does not fully erase the feeling of being processed one more time before getting out the door.
For shoppers already tired of card scans, receipt checks, and crowded front ends, the new system can look like one bottleneck swapped for a different one. The technology may be faster, yet the emotional texture can still feel repetitive and supervised for many people.
The Move Feels Late, Not Fresh
There’s a pride issue in the reaction. Costco members see rivals have offered similar tools for years.
Sam’s Club has long leaned on Scan & Go, and BJ’s has offered ExpressPay through its app. So when Costco finally pilots its own version, some members do not read it as innovation. They read it as a catch-up move from a company that let a convenience gap linger too long.
That matters because late upgrades are judged more harshly. When a retailer arrives after the category has already moved, customers are less patient with rough edges, unclear rollouts, and the sense that they waited years for something rivals normalized long ago.
Shoppers Do Not Trust Tech To Be Smooth Every Time
Even members open to the change still worry about what happens when the technology behaves like technology.
A phone checkout flow adds new failure points: weak signal, app hiccups, dead batteries, missed scans, payment freezes, or confusion at the exit code stage. Costco says early results are positive, but customers know one glitch at a packed warehouse can sour the entire front-end experience.
That fear lands harder at Costco because carts are bigger, stores are busier, and the margin for small mistakes feels thinner. A digital shortcut only wins trust when it works invisibly, every single trip, not just on a pilot’s best day.
An Uneven Rollout Makes The Benefit Feel Inconsistent
The last source of frustration is uncertainty. Costco has not given a clear national rollout timeline for Scan & Go.
That leaves shoppers in an awkward middle ground where some warehouses test faster checkout while others still rely on crowded lines or older self-checkout setups. A convenience upgrade feels less exciting when it lands like a patchwork test instead of a dependable standard.
For a paid membership model, consistency matters almost as much as savings. Members do not just compare Costco with its own past. They compare one warehouse with another, and that uneven experience is where annoyance hardens into backlash.
