4 More Major Costco Changes Coming to Stores, and How They’ll Affect You
Earlier this month, Best Life reported that Costco was trying to woo its members with extended warehouse and gas station hours, new scan-and-go checkout technology, and the option for buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) via its new partnership with Affirm. And now, the warehouse club has announced a new slate of changes that it can only hope will set it apart from its Sam’s Club and BJ’s Wholesale. Here are four things you can expect in the coming months from Costco.
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1
Costco added new features to its Instacart platform.
Earlier this month, Costco revealed that its members can now take advantage of No-Rush Delivery and Priority Delivery options through sameday.costco.com, a platform powered by Instacart, according to a press release.
Costco first teamed up with the grocery delivery service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, their partnership has grown to include same-day delivery (via Instacart) and curbside pickup at select Costco locations. Now, two new delivery services are being added to Costco’s Instacart page.
No-Rush Delivery allows Costco members to schedule their grocery orders hours or days in advance. Additionally, if your delivery window is flexible, you may be eligible to earn extra savings on your purchase. Need your items A.S.A.P.? With Priority Delivery, orders arrive in 30 minutes or less.
“We’re focused on helping retailers increase availability and speed, while giving customers more same-day options no matter how they choose to shop,” Ryan Hamburger, Vice President of Retail Partnerships at Instacart, said in a statement.
“By introducing flexible fulfillment offerings like Priority Delivery, retailers can meet the demand for convenience while unlocking potential incremental volume. Whether it’s faster delivery, full-service shopping, or scalable last-mile support, we’re committed to powering the tools our partners need to grow and serve their customers on their own terms,” he said.
2
Costco’s food court is switching back over to Coca-Cola products.
Sorry, Team Pepsi, it looks like Team Coca-Cola won this battle. In a shareholder’s meeting earlier this year, Costco CEO Ron Vachris confirmed that the warehouse’s food court will be replacing its Pepsi offerings with Coca-Cola instead.
“We will be converting our food court fountain business back over to Coca-Cola,” he said.
The changeover is expected to be complete by this July. New fountain soda offerings now include Coke, Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Sprite, Minute Maid Zero Sugar Lemonade, and Raspberry Fuze Iced Tea, according to the Instagram account CostcoBuys.
RELATED: 4 More Major Walmart Changes Coming to Stores, and How They’ll Affect You.
3
Some Costco parking lots now have EV charging stalls.
Good news, electric vehicle owners! Costco is rolling out EV charging stations in its parking lots. Currently, the following Costco locations have EV fast-charging stalls available for customer use:
- Sacramento, California
- Pleasanton, California
- Loomis, California
- Denver, Colorado
- Clermont, Florida
- North Port, Florida
The stations are the brainchild of Electric Era, an EV charging company founded by former SpaceX engineers. Within 20 to 60 minutes, these EV charging cables can boost a car’s battery by up to 80 percent. That’s enough time to get all your shopping done and grab a hot dog!
It’s unclear whether Costco has plans to expand its partnership with Electric Era to bring EV charging stalls to other locations.
4
Costco announced a slight change to its new business hours.
Costco is ramping up its incentives for Executive Club members. As Best Life previously reported, “Starting June 30, certain Costco members can take advantage of early bird shopping hours. The perk is only available for executive club members (a $130 annual membership) and gives shoppers exclusive access to the warehouse before it opens to basic-tier members, according to a company email obtained by Costco Insider.”
Effective June 30, the new executive member shopping hours are:
- Monday–Friday: 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.
- Saturday: 9 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
- Sunday: 9 a.m. – 10 a.m.
In an email to employees, viewed by Business Insider, Costco explained the move: “Our Executive Members are our most loyal members, and we want to reward them for their commitment to Costco.”
Early bird hours have officially gone into effect; however, Costco has implemented a “grace period” for everyone else that will run through Aug. 31, 2025. But come the end of summer, only Executive-paying members will be granted VIP access.
“A grace period for Gold Star and Business members will be in effect through August 31,” a sign reads, per an image obtained by The U.S. Sun.