Costco has begun installing scanners at the entrance to its stores in Canada to intercept consumers who do not have a valid membership card.
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This system has already been deployed in American branches for several months, and it has just made its first appearance in a store in Canada, in Ottawa, according to information from the English-speaking channel CTV.
Costco customers are already accustomed to showing their membership card to an employee before they can shop, but card scanners take these checks to another level.
In stores where this system is in place, you must present your card to the reader. The customer’s photo then appears on the screen of a tablet, and their identity is validated by an employee.
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As of this writing, Costco has not responded to questions from Newspaper about these scanners and their possible deployment in Quebec.
However, the chain told American media that the objective of these machines is to prevent non-members from accessing Costco warehouses, and from slipping through the cracks by using someone’s card. another at the self-service checkouts.
On its website, the chain specifies that “the membership card is not transferable and can only be used by the person in whose name it was issued.”
Loblaw
Costco isn’t the only chain using technology to try to prevent theft and fraudulent transactions, and electronic scanners are an increasingly common currency at big-box stores across the country.
Last week, The newspaper reported that Loblaw tested checkout scanners at four grocery stores in Ontario to try to stem the rise in shoplifting, facilitated by the use of self-checkouts.
The food giant assures, however, that the deployment of these machines is not planned in Quebec “for the moment”.
When asked about this, Metro said earlier this month that “several technologies” to prevent theft are being explored, but that bill scanners are not one of them.