🛒💳 Costco Stay Cracking Down on Membership Sharing
⬇️ Pidgin | ⬇️ ⬇️ English
Da wholesale retailer wen announce on Wednesday dat dey goin’ require identification at all registers, including self-checkout lanes, eliminating one popular shopping secret. 😱🚫
Da success of Costco’s business model relies on rigor. Da wholesale retailer, wea dey use one membership system, strictly monitors entrances an’ exits an’ double checks customer receipts. 👀🔒
But fo’ friends an’ relatives of members, dey had one well-known hack fo’ score Costco’s low prices witout paying one annual fee: da self-checkout lanes. Some users found out dey could borrow one member’s card, o’ one member’s QR code from da Costco app, an’ avoid da identification requirements of da regular checkout lanes. 🛒🙌💳
Dat workaround stay coming to one end. Da kumpany wen say in one emailed statement on Wednesday dat dey wen notice dat nonmember shoppers stay using oddah people’s membership cards, which according to Costco policy, stay nontransferable, in da self-checkout lanes. 😬🚫
“We stay now asking fo’ see deir membership card wit deir photo at our self-service checkout registers,” da kumpany explained, adding, “If deir membership card no stay get one photo, den we asking fo’ one photo ID.” 📸💳
Costco stay beloved by consumers fo’ its $1.50 hot dog-an’-soda combo, towering rows of inexpensive bulk goods, an’ its signature Kirkland brand products — everything from linens to liquor. One regular membership cost $60 one year, an’ one executive card cost $120 one year. 💸🌭🥤
Katie Thomas, who lead da Kearney Consumer Institute, one management consulting firm, said it stay one “not unreasonable hack” fo’ occasional shoppers fo’ borrow one friend’s Costco card o’ QR code, adding dat she thought it could lead to new paid memberships. Ms. Thomas said she herself stay recently scolded at one Costco fo’ using her muddah’s membership card, though she said she stay also one member. 🤷♀️💡💳
Costco wen say in its statement dat it stay “able fo’ keep our prices as low as possible cuz our membership fees help offset our operational expenses, making our membership fee an’ structure important to us.” 💪💰
Da retail market stay grown tighter, said Neil Saunders, managing director at da retail consulting firm GlobalData, who guess dat reasons fo’ da crackdown at Costco might include increasing pressures on corporate margins an’ da rising cost of commodities, labor an’ overhead for wholesalers. 😬💼💲
“They probably turned one blind eye to it whilst growth an’ everyting stay looking rosy,” he said, but stay becoming stricter in one more difficult economic environment. 🤐📉
Though Costco faced supply constraints an’ labor shortages during da pandemic, it reported strong operating results for 2022 in one annual report dat also boasted ’bout new items, including “BBQ pellets, women’s jeans, reformulated dog food, sauté pans, fresh mini cakes an’ chicken yakisoba.” 🌐📊🔥🛍️
Da kumpany also reported dat it had nearly 119 million cardholders last year. Revenue from dose membership fees totaled $4.2 billion in 2022, up 9 percent from 2021. Costco’s net income stay $5.8 billion last year, da kumpany reported, up from $5 billion in 2021. 💳💼💰
“You see da importance of da membership model,” Mr. Saunders said. 👀🔑
Da member renewal rate stay around 90 percent worldwide in 2022, da kumpany said. Costco stay not raised da cost of its membership since 2017, but executives indicated in one recent earnings call dat da cost might increase. 🔄💸
Ms. Thomas pointed out da clear parallel to Netflix, wea da kumpany wen announce last month dat it goin’ begin kicking people off da service if dey stay using someone’s account for more than 30 days while at one different location, attributing its crackdown to shifting economic forces an’ increased competition. 🎥🚫🔒
Costco said on Wednesday, “We no feel it’s right dat nonmembers receive da same benefits an’ pricing as our members.” 🚫💳🤝
NOW IN ENGLISH
🛒💳 Costco is cracking down on membership sharing!
Da wholesale retailer announced on Wednesday dat dey goin’ require identification at all registers, including self-checkout lanes, eliminating one popular shopping secret. 😱🚫
Da success of Costco’s business model relies on rigor. Costco, wea dey use one membership system, strictly monitors entrances an’ exits an’ double checks customer receipts. 👀🔒
But fo’ friends an’ relatives of members, dey had one well-known hack fo’ score Costco’s low prices witout paying one annual fee: da self-checkout lanes. Some users found out dey could borrow one member’s card, o’ one member’s QR code from da Costco app, an’ avoid da identification requirements of da regular checkout lanes. 🛒🙌💳
Dat workaround stay coming to one end. Da kumpany wen say in one emailed statement on Wednesday dat dey wen notice dat nonmember shoppers stay using oddah people’s membership cards, which according to Costco policy, stay nontransferable, in da self-checkout lanes. 😬🚫
“We stay now asking fo’ see deir membership card wit deir photo at our self-service checkout registers,” da kumpany explained, adding, “If deir membership card no stay get one photo, den we asking fo’ one photo ID.” 📸💳
Costco stay beloved by consumers fo’ its $1.50 hot dog-an’-soda combo, towering rows of inexpensive bulk goods, an’ its signature Kirkland brand products — everything from linens to liquor. One regular membership cost $60 one year, an’ one executive card cost $120 one year. 💸🌭🥤
Katie Thomas, who lead da Kearney Consumer Institute, one management consulting firm, said it stay one “not unreasonable hack” fo’ occasional shoppers fo’ borrow one friend’s Costco card o’ QR code, adding dat she thought it could lead to new paid memberships. Ms. Thomas said she herself stay recently scolded at one Costco fo’ using her muddah’s membership card, though she said she stay also one member. 🤷♀️💡💳
Costco wen say in its statement dat it stay “able fo’ keep our prices as low as possible cuz our membership fees help offset our operational expenses, making our membership fee an’ structure important to us.” 💪💰
Da retail market stay grown tighter, said Neil Saunders, managing director at da retail consulting firm GlobalData, who guess dat reasons fo’ da crackdown at Costco might include increasing pressures on corporate margins an’ da rising cost of commodities, labor an’ overhead for wholesalers. 😬💼💲
“They probably turned one blind eye to it whilst growth an’ everyting stay looking rosy,” he said, but stay becoming stricter in one more difficult economic environment. 🤐📉
Though Costco faced supply constraints an’ labor shortages during da pandemic, it reported strong operating results for 2022 in one annual report dat also boasted ’bout new items, including “BBQ pellets, women’s jeans, reformulated dog food, sauté pans, fresh mini cakes an’ chicken yakisoba.” 🌐📊🔥🛍️
Da kumpany also reported dat it had nearly 119 million cardholders last year. Revenue from dose membership fees totaled $4.2 billion in 2022, up 9 percent from 2021. Costco’s net income stay $5.8 billion last year, da kumpany reported, up from $5 billion in 2021. 💳💼💰
“You see da importance of da membership model,” Mr. Saunders said. 👀🔑
Da member renewal rate stay around 90 percent worldwide in 2022, da kumpany said. Costco stay not raised da cost of its membership since 2017, but executives indicated in one recent earnings call dat da cost might increase. 🔄💸
Ms. Thomas pointed out da clear parallel to Netflix, wea da kumpany wen announce last month dat it goin’ begin kicking people off da service if dey stay using someone’s account for more than 30 days while at one different location, attributing its crackdown to shifting economic forces an’ increased competition. 🎥🚫🔒
Costco said on Wednesday, “We no feel it’s right dat nonmembers receive da same benefits an’ pricing as our members.” 🚫💳🤝
