Costco will soon require shoppers to scan membership cards at warehouse entrances

Costco is rolling out a new policy that will change the way people shop at its stores across the country.

In an effort to cut down on membership sharing, the retailer is debuting a new method for shoppers to be granted entry into its warehouses.

While shoppers usually just flash their membership cards to a worker at the entrance of a store, they'll now be required to scan their cards at a kiosk.

"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. An employee will then verify the shopper's ID before they're allowed to enter the warehouse.

Shoppers with membership cards that do not have a photo will be required to show a valid photo ID.

Guests will only be able to enter a Costco store with an active member.

Shoppers with inactive or expired memberships will be flagged and directed toward the membership counter prior to entering the warehouse.

Costco said the membership scanning devices will be installed in all of its stores over the coming months.

Costco members pay $60 for a regular annual membership or $120 for an executive-level membership, which comes with added perks. In total, the retailer has approximately 120 million members, making it one of the largest clubs in the world.

Costco memberships are non-transferrable -- which means you can't borrow someone else's card to shop at the store. According to the retailer's policy, members may bring up to two guests into the warehouse during each visit. Those guests can shop, but only members may purchase items. Members can also request one additional household card, but it must be assigned to someone who lives at the same address.

Costco has been cracking down on membership sharing since last summer, when it began asking customers for photo IDs to use self-checkout registers. The same policy has long been in place at employee-staffed checkout lines, to ensure the cardholder is actually the member. The retailer explained the change, saying more and more non-members were sneaking through self-checkout lanes and buying items with a membership card that wasn't theirs.

"We don't feel it's right that nonmembers receive the same benefits and pricing as our members," Costco said in a statement.

Shoppers who aren't Costco members can still buy certain merchandise online, but they'll pay 5% more than members.