Costco's 'Treasure-Hunt' Shopping Style Is Not Fun, It's Infuriating

After surviving the blood sport that is parking at Costco, I want nothing more than to rush in, grab the items on my shopping list, and check out as fast as possible — especially when I'm there on a busy weekend. Once I've flashed my membership card, I navigate my cart around meandering shoppers to the locations where the warehouse usually stocks the items I need. And thankfully, some products don't change position at Costco, like the yummy rotisserie chicken, the meat and fish departments, and the refrigerated dairy section. But of course, there are always a couple items on my list that have vanished from where they had been on my last visit. You might think that the granola I usually buy would be in the cereal section, but nope, it's been moved to the chips and snacks aisle. And, ironically, my favorite gluten-free treats were shifted over to the bread aisle.

I'm not alone in my confusion and frustration. You can find a smorgasbord of shopper complaints on social media: customers rants about all kinds of nonsensical arrangements, from finding baby diapers in the soda section to a preferred brand of cat litter relocated out of the pet aisle. But as maddening as it is, hunting for something is exactly what Costco wants us to do. Costco constantly moves stock around to make room for new or marked-down items, which it advertises as "this week's Treasure Hunt." These so-called treasure hunts are supposed to be fun, but after 20 minutes of searching for mixed nuts, I have to restrain myself from kicking down the wall of toilet paper in retaliation. Quite frankly, I'm over it. Unfortunately though, there's little that us irritated shoppers can do, because Costco apparently has no intention of changing its infuriating marketing scheme.

Costco claims that the treasure hunt concept helps introduce shoppers to new items. But I'm not convinced that Costco really has our best interests in mind. Entering Costco is like walking into a Las Vegas casino, all winding paths, artificial lighting, and no visible exit — and that's on purpose. Each warehouse has been designed to be disorienting. Without any aisle signage, we wander around, trying to find what we're looking for, and on the way, we might spy a luxury item we didn't know we needed and toss it into our shopping cart. I'm not an impulse buyer by any means, but even I can't resist the allure of marked-down Rao's marinara sauce, when I was really seeking out a box of spaghetti noodles. 

Another devilish ruse Costco uses is hiding "triggers," throughout the store, which are everyday items that many shoppers are willing to search for, causing them to spend more time perusing the aisles. For example, you may want a pack of lightbulbs, but they're not where you usually find them. You're now "triggered" to hunt for this staple item, and there's a good chance you'll find them moved to a section near some high-end items, like jewelry, that Costco is pushing customers to buy. You grab the lightbulbs, maybe even stock up out of fear they will be discontinued, which is what Costco's online customer service advises, and leave with an expensive new bauble as well.

Costco is the third largest retailer in worldwide sales today, so clearly the treasure hunt works for the business. But it also manipulates customers to spend more money than we should, which really doesn't benefit anyone except Costco.

Ironically, according to a number of Costco employees on social media, the treasure hunt-style shopping experience isn't as well-planned as it seems, despite how lucrative it may be. The volume of products that Costco pushes through every day is overwhelming, particularly for the forklift drivers who shuttle pallets of products from the delivery trucks to the floor. Old items are moved to make room for new items daily, and with the warehouse jammed floor to ceiling with pallets, the drivers unload the replaced items wherever they can find space. Adding to the confusion, Costco's inventory system is purportedly outdated, and there is no way for employees to log in what's come in and where something else has been moved. 

Another employee revealed in a Reddit thread that stockers are constantly rearranging shelves and, sometimes entire aisles, to accommodate the products of vendors that have paid Costco to secure prime locations in the warehouse. All the loading and reshuffling happens in the morning, and one mid-shift floor employee claims that they aren't always told what and where something has been relocated. Basically, if you can't find what you're looking for, it's likely that many of the employees can't find it either. 

With all the grief that this "treasure hunt" gives to many shoppers and employees, Costco should at least least stop marketing it as fun. Costco's former CFO recently announced that a real-time inventory will be implemented that shoppers can access online. This is definitely a step in the right direction, but if Costco would only add a map feature, we could actually find where the inventory is, and that would certainly be a real treasure.