Costco is the nation's third-largest retailer in market share, behind Walmart and Amazon according to the National Retail Federation. The company's net sales topped a whopping $140 billion in 2021, up 15.8% from the year before. But those aren't the only impressive numbers associated with everybody's favorite warehouse club. From rotisserie chickens to giant stuffed bears, there are plenty of eye-popping facts and figures about Costco.
This includes 578 locations in the United States and Puerto Rico, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, and 31 in Japan. There's even a Costco in Iceland; 1 in 8 Icelanders signed up for membership before it even opened its doors, according to Quartz.
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Most cardholders in this May figure are basic Gold Card members, paying $60 a year. Executive members — around 22% of Costco's paid cardholders as of spring of 2021 — pay $120 and can get a 2% reward on certain purchases up to $1,000 a year.
Want to become a Costco member? You can apply here.
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The club sends direct mail and coupons to existing members, but spends zilch on marketing itself to the larger public. In contrast, Amazon spent $10.4 billion on advertising in 2021, Statista says, while Statstic pegs Walmart's spending at $3.11 billion.
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The average Costco warehouse store is comparable in footprint to a city block in Manhattan. The smallest Costco is 80,000 square feet, and the largest is 230,000 — all figures that have risen from just a few years ago. Costco's stores are almost 10% larger on average than those of its major rival, Sam's Club.
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By all accounts, Costco employees — including more than 156,000 full-time U.S. workers — are a happy bunch: Turnover rate is only 6% to 7% for employees of over a year, according to Barron's; it's more like 60% for retail overall, according to the National Retail Foundation.
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This might sound like a lot, but consider this: The average Walmart Supercenter usually carries around 120,000 products, according to Slate.
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The 3-pound birds are fully cooked and seasoned, and they sell for just $5 — cheaper than at most supermarkets. Costco loses money by keeping the price so low, but its overall revenue has surged right along with chicken sales, the company's top executive, W. Craig Jelinek, said at a virtual shareholder meeting last January.
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Costco has kept the price of a hot dog and soda at $1.50 since the mid-1980s, which may be why it's selling so many. Jelinek says his predecessor as CEO threatened to kill him if he raised the price.
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Costco shoppers are much wealthier than the typical big-box-store customer. Household income for the average Walmart shopper is $80,000, according to some accounting and compared with $65,00 for Target.
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Costco's lowest wage jumped in October, though employee longevity means the average worker takes home $24 hourly, the company says. In comparison, Walmart's says some workers still start at $13.
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A few years ago it was known that one-fifth of the warehouse club's stores are turned over to its private Kirkland Signature label, but the products account for 31% of total sales as of 2021. One of the top sellers is toilet paper: Costco sells more than 1 billion rolls of it annually.
Turnover means there are always new products for members to browse, even if they go in monthly, and it's up at Costco from the 12-time annual turnover of the past few years. It also means Costco doesn't have to rely on its own capital to finance inventory, The Motley Fool points out.
This Size 7 platinum band available on Costco.com in August features a near-colorless 6.55-carat round diamond, according to the International Gemological Institute.
Speaking of rings, this is how much a U.S. district court judge ruled Costco owed Tiffany & Co. for describing some of its rings using the Tiffany name. Costco has argued it was using the term generically, but saw the initial ruling rise from a $19.4 million pain to $25 million in 2019.
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Costco sold 689,000 cars — new and pre-owned — through its no-haggle auto-buying program in 2020, ranking it alongside the top dealership groups in the nation.
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Costco classifies certain products as "triggers" — that is, items members buy repeatedly and use every day, including paper towels and light bulbs. They are positioned strategically around the store in hopes customers will make impulse buys on the way to finding them.
Televisions, major appliances including freezers and dishwashers, and the like get a limited time to come back if they don't work out. For almost everything else, Costco has one of the most generous return policies in the retail world: a full refund at any time.
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In addition to health benefits, many employees are eligible for a 401(k) match, dependent care assistance, a counseling program, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, employee stock purchasing, and a health-care reimbursement account.
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While cost varies significantly by location, gas is typically 6 to 12 cents cheaper a gallon if members fill up at Costco stations, compared with competitors.
By changing the shape of its Kirkland Signature cashew containers to square from round some years back, the warehouse club could fit 432 jars on a pallet, up from 288.
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This plush show-stopper weighs 48.5 pounds, or around as much as an average 6-year-old boy. (And is sometimes out of stock, despite being a kind of consumer sensation.) For shoppers who don't have the space for the extra-large version, Costco also sells a 53-inch bear and a 25-inch bear.
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While the company says its core business model depends on getting shoppers inside its bricks-and-mortar warehouses, it does sell online — and a predictable surge accelerated those online sales during the coronavirus pandemic. Online sales grew 50% in the fiscal year in which COVID forced the world inside, compared with 8% the year before, Digital Commerce 360 reports.