Costco Moving Towards a Big Change for Shoppers With 'Scan and Go' Technology

Costco held their quarterly earnings call on May 29, and the call brought some good news, as well as a major change for shoppers on the way. As for the earnings, Costco reported an 8% year-over-year sales gain. While Costco doesn't offer an annual outlook, the management on the earnings call said that in general, tariffs have resulted in higher prices and some challenges, so Costco had to work with its supply chain and raise some prices. But, the company still posted a gain.

Costco's earnings per share was $4.28, which is higher than its $4.24 expected. Revenue was also $63.21 billion, which is higher than the $63.19 billion that was projected.

As for tariffs concerns, according to CFO Gary Millerchip, goods and items imported from China make up about 8% of Costco's total U.S. sales. "We felt it was important to to really eliminate the impact there for the member by working with our suppliers and by us finding efficiencies and accepting that there may be a margin impact," Millerchip said.

While numbers are fun, when it comes to what actually impacts the average customer at Costco, the earnings call also brought news of Costco working on ways to speed up wait times for people at the checkout area. A busy Costco store often means a long wait to check out, and they want to change that.

“We've also engaged in some 'scan and go done by Costco' kind of tests that we're doing out there that have been extremely successful of moving people through the lines and expediting the transactions," CEO Ron Vachris said on the call. Vachris added that the early tests of these "scan and go" devices were "very positive."

"Scan and go" is a mobile self-checkout solution, where shoppers are able to use their mobile devices to scan items as they shop and pay right through an app.

Related: Costco Announces Major Change for Purchases—And It Starts This Month