10 New Rules Costco Has Introduced So Far In 2026

In the never-ending quest to save money at the grocery store, many families turn to warehouse retailers to help them cut costs on household staples. The competition is fierce between warehouses like Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's, and can ultimately come down to location or personal preference for which retailer comes out on top.

But that doesn't mean stores like Costco are content to leave things at the status quo. The retail giant, which now has more than 600 stores across the United States, is constantly leveling up the standards for customers to stay competitive. The brand continues to introduce new items under its Costco Kirkland Signature store brand to keep prices low on fan-favorite household goods. Costco's bakery, already well-known for its sheet cakes and best-in-class cheesecakes, started 2026 with some new next-level bakery items that customers are raving about.

Along with new blueberry sourdough bread, marinated flank steaks, and other new Costco items you can buy, the retailer is also rolling out new rules that apply to members and employees alike. Some are meant to cut down on long lines at the checkout. Others will help the stores' bottom line. And a few could impact how you purchase and order your favorite Costco items. Whether the new rules are improvements is still up for interpretation. Here are the rules Costco has introduced in 2026 so far.

The days of quickly flashing your Costco membership card at the door attendant are gone for good. In the past several months, Costco has rolled out membership card scanners at every store entrance. When you scan your card, the other side that is visible to Costco attendants shows your photo ID.

You only need to slow down for a bit to scan your digital or physical membership cards before continuing your quest for industrial-sized packs of toilet paper and tubs of guacamole. But in an effort to crack down on sharing cards, you'll need to show a photo ID if your membership card doesn't have a photo associated with it.

Costco earns a significant amount of money each year from selling memberships. In a February 2026 earnings call, executives shared that the warehouse chain boasts more than 81 million paid members, which generates more than $1.3 billion per year (via TheStreet). And while sharing a card with your mom might not seem like a big deal, it's a key source of revenue for the retail giant. Ensuring that paid members are the only ones shopping helps Costco's income, but the chain would be quick to point out that it also cuts down on longer lines in stores. Costco began rolling out these scanners in late 2024, but my local Costco took until late 2025 to begin using one. 2026 is the first calendar year where these are fully in effect nationwide.

Costco is rolling out a new option for the famous $1.50 hot dog combo at the food courts in some warehouse locations in 2026. The combo of a quarter-pound beef hot dog and a 20-ounce refillable soda is as canon as it gets to Costco members, and store executives know they shouldn't mess with it ... too much.

It's well known that Costco keeps the price of the hot dog combo very consistent. In fact, it hasn't increased in price since the combo debuted more than 40 years ago. Budget-conscious Costco shoppers can rest easy: CEO Ron Vachris said the price of the combo won't change as long as he's around (via Instagram). But other small developments can happen along the way. The retailer made one change in mid-2025, by switching from Pepsi products for its fountain sodas back to Coca-Cola. Now, customers in some locations who want to skip the soda altogether can choose to have a 16-ounce bottle of Kirkland water instead to pair with their dog.

In 2025, Costco reported that it sold more than 245 million hot dog combos across all of its stores (via CFO Dive). For customers in areas with a soda tax, the new water bottle option gives them the chance to keep their food total at just $1.50, instead of paying the extra cash for the soda they're purchasing. But, if you're not interested in messing with a good thing, the refillable soda cup is (still) all yours.

While Costco executives are willing to eat the inflation costs of its $1.50 hot dog combos for paying warehouse members, their generosity only goes so far. In 2026, many warehouse stores are adding more strict policies for purchasing meals from the food courts to ensure that only members are purchasing slices of pizza, chicken bakes, and yes, hot dogs.

Costco shoppers around the nation are reporting their warehouse locations are adding membership scanners at the food courts, requiring would-be diners to prove they're members before taking advantage of the objectively great food court deals. I can still feed my family of five for less than $12 at our local Costco before filling up a cart with diapers, ground beef, and enough granola bars to feed a small country. No other fast food joint even comes close these days, so I'll happily swipe my membership card to keep those dinnertime savings coming. Proponents of the new rule also say the lines at their food courts tend to be shorter than they used to be.

While this change in 2026 is new in some spots — especially those with indoor food courts — commenters online from regions like Southern California say the scanners have already been in place for years. Outdoor food courts require a bit more oversight to cut down on the lunch rush, and it seems like Costco stores elsewhere are taking more notice this year.

I fill a cart during most of my Costco runs, so the self-checkout lines have never been my jam. But if you're one of the lucky few who can escape the Costco labyrinths with just a few items in your cart, some new self-checkout rules might impact your process to pay for your items.

These self-checkout rules will only be in effect for states with specific new laws related to the more automated systems. As of right now, different legislation would affect how the self-checkout lanes are operated in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, California, Ohio, and New York. Some states will only enact policies that require a certain ratio of self-checkout lanes to employees — or a ratio of self-checkouts to regular cashiered lanes. Ohio's laws could require you to visit a traditional cashier if you're purchasing items that require ID, like alcohol.

Other laws would impact everyone in a certain area, no matter what they're buying. Long Beach, California, enacted a strict 15-item limit for all self-checkouts last year, including at stores like Costco. Places like New York City are considering legislation in 2026 that would do the same thing. If you're the type of person who tries to make 20 items look like 10 in your cart, you might soon be out of luck in some Costco warehouses.

Costco has a notably low turnover rate for its employees, and 73% of Costco employees would recommend working there to a friend, according to reviews on Glassdoor. (That's compared to 50% at Sam's Club and 42% at BJ's, so the Costco approval rating is starkly higher.)

One of the reasons Costco workers cite their approval of the company is decent pay and benefits, especially as inflation has skyrocketed in recent years. After negotiations with Costco's labor union, the warehouse retailer will start all new employees at a base rate of around $20 per hour — now dubbed the "$20 rule." That took effect in February 2026, with a scheduled bump to $21 per hour in March that already took place.

Costco employees continue to earn raises during their tenure, with the warehouse reporting in 2025 that the average Costco staffer earned $31 per hour in stores across the U.S. and Canada (via Fortune). Costco's hourly rates outpace other retailers like Target and Walmart, which have starting ranges that tend to be at least a few dollars below the $20 mark. In 2025, Costco's CEO said the decisions were strategic to stay competitive in the retail space — and good pay certainly helps keep staff turnover low. The company also rolled out vacation benefits for new employees in their first year, and veteran employees earn up to six weeks of paid vacation time.

One of the most aggravating Costco rules — in my humble opinion — is the bakery requirements for purchasing items like bagels and muffins. Yes, you can get a great deal per item for the quality you're buying. But to get those bargains, you're required to purchase an intense amount of baked goods. That's especially been the case for Costco's bagels, which used to be sold in packs of six — but you had to buy two packs of them for a total of $5. The bagels are famously made without any preservatives, which means the chance of mold after a few days is high. 

In fact, the internet is alive with so-called 'Costco bagel challenges' in recent years of smaller households trying to make their way through the packs before some bagels become fuzzy, green, and inedible. Yes, there are the freezing and toaster oven hacks, but for those who just want to eat a good bagel straight from the bag in the pantry, Costco's new bagel quantity rules could work in your favor. Bakeries at select locations are now changing the packaging to 8-packs of bagels for $4.99. 

The quantity rule changes are controversial at best. While some like the change, saying they prefer the size, others say it's a sneaky way to cover rising food prices. The changes aren't universal at all locations yet, but expect this change to hit your Costco warehouse sometime in 2026.

In the eternal Costco versus Sam's Club debate, it can be tough to choose a clear winner. However, one thing that Sam's Club consistently ranks higher with customers on is the Scan and Go option. The technology is self-explanatory: You use the Sam's Club app on your phone to scan item barcodes as you put them in your cart. When you're finished, you pay in the app and show the exit code to an attendant as you leave. According to fans, it's as simple as that.

Costco aims to become more competitive with similar technology in 2026. The company announced in the summer of 2025 that it was piloting Scan & Pay in 27 stores across the country. The aim was for the process to be operational in those select stores by the end of that year, before a potential wider rollout if successful. It will likely take time to work out the kinks, but as a shopper who often has one to three children melting down by the end of my shopping spree, I'm all for improving the wait times to pay for my Costco treasures.

In the meantime, numerous Costco stores are implementing a compromise solution, where employees pre-scan groceries for small to medium orders while they wait in line. They'll scan your membership card and the items in your cart. Once you get to the cashier, everything stays in the cart, and they scan your card again to pull up the order for you to pay. I've experienced this in my local Costco recently, and it definitely cuts down on wait times during peak shopping hours.

In the not so distant past, you needed to visit your local Costco to order a custom cake, platter of cookies, or deli tray for your next party. In 2026, Costco is changing the ordering rules to make it much more convenient — especially if your closest warehouse isn't exactly next door.

Costco is moving away from paper order slips for these items from the bakery and deli, which used to require you physically visiting the store to place the order, and then returning days later to pick it up. In phased rollouts throughout this year, Costco is putting a much larger emphasis on digital capabilities by accepting custom orders through its store app.

This change was announced in February 2026, and Costco is already accepting custom cake and cookie tray orders on mobile devices. Costco still accepts paper order slips if old-school is more your style, but the warehouse chain is certainly doubling down on its app functions this year. So far, the in-app ordering is only available for warehouses in the U.S., and comes with a few stipulations. You need to order the cakes at least three days in advance (pretty standard compared to ordering in the warehouse), and can be ordered as far as two weeks ahead of time. I haven't seen the in-app deli options in my app yet, but the icons for cake and cookie tray ordering are prominently displayed in the "Warehouse" tab.

The federal government is taking a closer look at the types of foods available for people who rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP benefits. Stores like Costco that accept EBT payments for those benefits must comply with new rules in 2026 that give greater access to a variety of whole foods.

The new rules, which go into effect in the fall of 2026, require all retailers who accept SNAP benefits to stock at least seven varying types of foods from four major food groups: protein, grains, dairy, and fruits and vegetables. The rule change more than doubles the requirement of available foods that shoppers should find in those stores, according to the USDA. If retailers don't comply with the new requirements, they risk being unable to accept SNAP benefits in the future.

This law shouldn't be a huge hindrance to stores like Costco, since the warehouse already stocks an abundance of produce, meats, grains, and dairy products. It could mean changes in aisle layouts for easier accountability, but the larger targets appear to be convenience stores and smaller retailers that attempt to pass snack foods off as healthy, whole-food options. Still, we'd expect that Costco managers will keep a careful tally of those foods behind the scenes in future months.

Costco is taking major strides in 2026 to boost the use and function of its mobile app, even beyond ordering a chocolate sheet cake from the bakery. The retail giant has already rolled out some features, like the digital membership card, which encourages more frequent use of the app to enter stores. Now, Costco encourages app usage the entire way through the checkout process, too.

The store already allows customers to link their Costco Anywhere Visa Card to their digital membership card in the app. This allows customers to have cashiers scan the QR code in the app once, which automatically links the membership ID and the credit card information for easy payment. You no longer need to remember your special Costco credit card before your next visit, but you'll still earn all the rewards and perks you're used to from the card.

Costco is continuing to roll out additional rule changes to that functionality in recent weeks. In May 2026, multiple commenters on Reddit reported that they were able to add any Visa card to their digital membership card, not just the specific Costco version. Some savvy shoppers said they were able to add a particular Visa card from Bank of America that allowed them to receive 5.25% back from their Costco purchases in the online category, even though they shopped in the warehouse. Five percent back on jumbo packs of paper towels? Yes, please.