It’s literally not more profit for them, especially depending on what the person is buying. Costco is able to offer lower prices than a lot of other places specifically because the memberships help make up for what would otherwise be losses on margins
Everybody knows you need a membership to shop there so why would these people (or anyone else for that matter) buy one if you let them shop and make purchases without it?
I think it might be even simpler: add membership fee to the purchase and tell them that they can finalize the process of creating a new card at the membership desk.
Makes more profit to let them through than to refuse them at that point.
Also, let them through and they may get a membership for next time, refuse them and they are never coming back.
They don’t need their business, and no one at Costco wants them in the store.
When you look at Costco earnings, almost all of their net profit is the membership fees.
It’s literally not more profit for them, especially depending on what the person is buying. Costco is able to offer lower prices than a lot of other places specifically because the memberships help make up for what would otherwise be losses on margins
Everybody knows you need a membership to shop there so why would these people (or anyone else for that matter) buy one if you let them shop and make purchases without it?
I think it might be even simpler: add membership fee to the purchase and tell them that they can finalize the process of creating a new card at the membership desk.