Costco's Marketing Strategy

Costco has a simple strategy for being one of the leaders in the wholesales, which is concentrating on driving sales. If the sales of a company are good than everything else will take care of itself. While other companies such as Wal-Mart, Target and BJ’s pour money into marketing; Costco has a no-frills approach and doesn’t advertise. Costco focuses on selling fewer items which increases sale volume and

In addition, it operates gasoline stations and manufacturing businesses such as special food packaging, optical laboratories and meat processing. Costco is open only to its members and offers three membership types for purchase: Business, Gold Star and the Executive membership.

The purpose of this paper is to do a value chain analysis of Costco, identify their resources and capabilities, to conduct a SWOT analysis to identify the opportunities in which they are lagging and to form a strategy to move forward using the recourses and capabilities in the direction of utilizing those opportunities.

In order for Costco to stay competitive in the market and ahead of its competitors, it is essential to venture into different products and services. Costco’s main products vary, which include: groceries and frozen products, fresh meats and produce, bakery goods, beverages and liquors, health and beauty products, seasonal goods, office products, appliances and electronics. To increase Costco’s product differentiation over its competitors and increase sales, Costco began to introduce other products; such as pharmacy, gasoline, auto insurance, and a food court. In addition, extends more services to executive card members that include check printing, payroll services, identity protection, free roadside assistance with Costco’s auto insurance, and traveling benefits.

Renee McDonald (“Plaintiff”) allegedly sustained personal injuries on October 8, 2015 while shopping at a store owned and operated by Costco (“Defendant”) in Brooklyn Park, Maryland. According to the plaintiff, while walking through the store, she tripped on mop water which caused her to fall to the ground and suffer “severe bodily injuries.” The Plaintiff claims that her fall was caused by the mop water. The mopped area had been secured with a yellow caution sign that warned customers of the wet floor. At the time of the Plaintiff’s fall, however, the sign had fallen down and was lying on the floor. Plaintiff alleges that the store did not have proper signage to warn of the hazardous condition.

Costco has a target market that it is trying to reach. The target market that it is trying to reach is usually a suburban group that is somewhat older and in the middle class. (knowthis.com) The target consumer is in the middle class because the membership costs about fifty-five dollars a year. Therefore, the member is typically financially stable to afford this yearly cost. Costco also targets businesses by offering a special membership called the business membership. The company appeals to many different people.

What is Costco’s business model? Is the company’s business model appealing? Why or why not?

The Costco strategy for getting into the wedding gown business is to have a set of touring trunk shows at its Western stores during the season where people are planning their weddings. Costco's typical pricing strategy is to undercut competition and make up for this with high volume sales. The company applies this strategy to the wedding gown business as well. Costco offers one of the lowest prices of any company on its wedding dresses. The company's business plan ensures that the details have been fleshed out, and that has led to the unique distribution strategy for wedding gowns.

Costco’s business model is to generate high-volume sales and rapid inventory turnover by offering low prices on a limited set selection of brands and a few selected privately labeled products. This model does not turn a profit on its own with the company operating slightly below its break-even cost. However, to make up for this Costco charges a membership fee and this is a simple way of padding their profit but also enabling them to provide a customer experience that emphasizes value.

Costco is one of the nation’s top three retailers and the world’s largest membership warehouse chain, Costco wholesale Canada operates about 80 membership warehouse clubs across Canada. The company never advertises, charges its 64 million members to shop there and doesn’t mark up any product more than 15 percent, even at this lowest profit margin, 15% for Kirkland private brand, the products were 20% lower than comparable to other brand products. Costco works with this business model and generating $93 billion in annual sales.

There are over 1,178 warehouse club locations across the U.S. and Canada, including Costco’s US warehouses. Unfortunately for the industry, expansion through small-size stores by the industry’s major players is expected to

A Business week article makes an interesting statement that Costco belongs to the very short list of companies with a culture so favorable to employees that it gives the company a competitive advantage, and it’s most likely to keep on rising over many decades. Costco sees workers as an asset to invest in, rather than a cost that must be reduced. In the U.S. Costco pays workers an average of nearly $21 per hour, almost three times the minimum wage and about twice as much of what most competitors pay. They receive great benefits and are part of a safe and healthy working environment as well. At Costco they are committed to providing its employees with opportunities for personal and career growth. Costco has implemented a strategy for a competitive advantage by having a mix of low-cost providers and differentiation. Company differentiates itself by providing consumers with products in bulk at a low per unit cost. Costco offering two types of memberships- the regular and executive membership. With an executive membership, Costco gives a 2% reward on annual Costco purchases. A holder of the executive membership receives incentives for shopping there, which leads to more sales and higher customer visits. This is just one of the many reasons customers keep going back to Costco. It has made itself a highly successful company by offering quality products and excellent customer service.

Frito-Lay uses Product focused process strategy for its food manufacturing operations in terms of process.

The pricing technique of Coca-Cola has supported the firm to compete and grow in the soft drink effectively. The volume discount and pricing penetration are the vital aspects to provide the firm generates its sales in the market. For instance, Coca-Cola partners with large supply chains such as Costco, Sam’s Club, and Walmart to provide great discount pricing in order to generate its sales substantially in the U.S and the global market. Equally, the firm also distributes its

Organizational culture has been described as shared values and beliefs that underline a company’s identity. A strong culture that encourages employees from the top to the bottom in adaptation and change can increase organizational performance by energizing and motivating employees, shape behaviors, unify personnel in the goals / objectives and align employee’s actions with the priorities of the company (Daft, R., 2013). Creating a constructive culture should be a manager’s top priority because the right culture will propel a company into a top performer in its industry.