Costco has announced that it will tighten its current rules in order to reduce access for non-members and ensure compliance with its membership policy, without making any changes to the policy itself.
Presently, approximately 69 million households hold an annual membership with Costco. The entry-level membership allows the primary cardholder to bring one additional person, residing at the same address, to shop in the store.
A spokesperson for Costco explained, “Membership revenues are vital in covering our operating deficits, and the sharing of membership cards undermines these revenues, making it increasingly challenging for us to offer competitive prices and services to our customers.”
As a result, Costco will adopt a more vigilant approach in verifying that the photo on the membership card matches the individual entering the store. Additionally, to prevent non-members from using borrowed membership cards at self-checkout lanes, Costco will deploy staff to verify the identity of shoppers.
Membership organizations have recently seen a trend of prohibiting the sharing of accounts with individuals residing at different addresses. For instance, Netflix has implemented a policy banning the sharing of passwords with people who do not share the same address.
BY BYONG IL KIM [support@koreadaily.com]
