Costco opened its doors to kiwis on September 28. The West Auckland store saw between 5,000 and 6,000 customers on average each day in its first month and an average of 7,000 new members each week. While things have steadied, the store's popularity does not appear to be declining anytime soon.
“We're delighted how quickly New Zealanders have taken to the Costco concept. Our strong membership sign-up and daily foot traffic tells us that our merchandise and pricing is resonating with the people of Auckland,” said Patrick Noone, Managing Director of Costco New Zealand.
Costco Bear
Fresh produce is among the most popular categories in store, with meat and bakery also doing well - the big Costco muffins have been flying out the door. Crabs, rotisserie chickens, chips, chocolates and sugar candies are all popular, Noone noted a real sweet tooth among kiwi customers.
“Our merchandise is a mix of locally-sourced products and the best of international brands – including items our New Zealander members have been asking for. At Costco, we refer to our merchandising strategy as a treasure hunt of value. What this means is that no two shopping trips should ever be exactly the same. We hope that members are surprised and delighted every time they visit, discovering new favourites as well as trusted high-quality brands. We’re proud to stock locally-owned brands, particularly across our fresh food categories, and we’d love to hear from more suppliers based in New Zealand.”
Like the rest of the world, New Zealand has made the most of Costco's Facebook fan clubs, which already have over 200,000 collective members. With the success of the first store, rumours about the next location have been flying
“We are always on the lookout for new warehouse locations. While we can’t confirm any sites yet, Wellington and Christchurch are definitely areas we’re interested in. However, it is a lengthy process to find the right site. Our warehouses are quite sizable in order to be able to house our comprehensive range of goods and specialty department services. Our focus is always to find the right location to meet our specifications so that we can ensure every warehouse is comprehensively stocked, offering a wide range of products and services of the best quality at the best possible price,” finished Noone.
The Numbers
“To continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices," is the business mission.
Costco’s Q4 2022 report saw the company as the third-largest global retailer, the 11th largest in Fortune 500, with a $236 Billion market cap. There are 840 warehouses worldwide, 578 in the USA, 107 in Canada, 40 in Mexico, 29 in the UK and Japan, 17 in Korea, 14 in Taiwan, 13 in Australia, four in Spain, two in China and France, and one in each of Iceland, New Zealand and Sweden.
Globally the retailer has around 118.9 million cardholders, with a 92.6 percent membership renewal rate in the USA and Canada.
The in-store merchandising strategy is based on limited SKUs, between 3,400 and 4,000, across a wide range of product categories. Four-way shoppable pallets are used in-store to ensure the product can be reached from every angle and provide prime graphics and branding capabilities.
