Costco to implement membership card scanning at entry points

Costco is making it hard for non-members to shop its stores.

The membership-based warehouse club giant is installing membership scanning devices at the entrances to all its stores. The rollout, which comes after a pilot in July, will take place during the coming months, Costco announced in a statement on its website.

“Once deployed, prior to entering, all members must scan their physical or digital membership card by placing the barcode or QR Code against the scanner,” the retailer said. 

In addition, if the shopper’s membership card does not have a photo, they will need to show a valid photo ID.  

“We encourage you to stop by the membership counter to have a photo taken to have on your card,” the company said.

[Read more: Costco offering members access to weight loss program]

Costco announced the change roughly one month after it said that it planned to increase its annual membership fees by $5 in the United States and Canada. The hike — Costco’s first since 2017 — is effective Sept. 1.  The increase brings the annual fee to $65 from $60. 

In other news, Costco reported that its its net sales in July rose 7.1%  year-over-year. 

Total company same-store sales rose 5.2%, and were up 5.3% in the U.S., 6.3% in Canada and 3.7% internationally. E-commerce sales jumped 20.2%. 

Excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange, total same-store sales rose 7.2%, and were up 6.3% in the U.S., 10.2% in Canada and 8.9% internationally.

Costco currently operates 884 warehouses, including 611 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 108 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 33 in Japan, 29 in the United Kingdom, 18 in Korea, 15 in Australia, 14 in Taiwan, seven in China, four in Spain, two in France, and one each in Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden.

Costco also operates e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Australia.

This story originally appeared on Chain Store Age.