The self-checkout process at most retailers is generally a solitary affair, with one employee tasked at keeping an eye out for scanner fraud or skipped scans and helping with technical issues on the kiosk.
But at some Costco locations, employees can get a lot more involved, according to shoppers on Reddit.
Shoppers at certain locations say they are required to use only the tabletop scanner for their items and must ask for employee assistance for bulky purchases, while others have access to a handheld scanner to ring up items in the cart on their own. Several self-checkout users said workers have rung up everything in their cart with a handheld scanner and sent them on their way.
The reviews have been mixed on Reddit, where one shopper said an employee took the handheld scanner from him in the midst of checking out, while another said the additional help was a "Grade A experience."
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"Someone ushered me to a register, took my membership card, scanned it (and the credit card, my method of payment), and then used the gun to scan everything in my cart. Didn't have to take anything out, and he handed me my receipt. Took less than a minute," the satisfied customer said.
After scrapping a previous effort in 2013, the warehouse club reintroduced self-checkout lanes to select locations back in 2019 and has been expanding the offering to additional stores. The company declined to comment for this story.
One issue that came up in several online discussions is that the company doesn't use express lanes and doesn't limit the number of items that can be trundled through the self-checkout area. Costco's website says members purchase 16 items per trip on average.
One Reddit user said although the item count is unlimited, excessive weight in the bagging area can cause the system to stop working, slowing down the lane for everyone else. Also, precariously balanced items in the bagging area tend to topple over and require cleanup.
The inconsistency of experiences across stores generated comparisons with self-checkout procedures at competing retailers, with some shoppers saying they would prefer a bit more trust and autonomy from the company.
"I have always wished we the customers had access to the hand scanners, but I was always told that Costco Corporate wants customers to use the table scanner and the employees to use the hand scanners," one user said.
Commenters were quick to point out how Costco's system differs from the Scan & Go service at rival Sam's Club, which allows customers to scan merchandise using a smartphone app and bypass the checkout lanes entirely. They also compared Costco's process unfavorably to those of retailers that allow customers to use handheld scanners for large or bulky items at self-checkout.
"Your Costco has hand scanners for members? If I want to use the hand scanner I have to take my food to Home Depot," a shopper said.