Photograph by Ron Antonelli/Bloomberg
Customers shop at a Costco in Hackensack, New Jersey
Popularity wasn’t Costco’s (COST) problem in the recent quarter, which saw revenue from membership fees surge 7.4 percent from a year ago, but getting those people to spend remained a challenge and the discounter missed Wall Street expectations for the second-consecutive quarter.
Trouble from lack of spending is a refrain heard from retailers time and again in recent months. Costco sales increased a disappointing 5.5 percent to $25 billion, and the company’s already thin margins were squeezed further as profit only ticked up 2.2 percent to $425 million.
The numbers illustrate a bit of a strategy shift at Costco. The retail giant is lowering prices at its almost 650 warehouse stores in a bid to lock more shoppers into annual memberships. So it’s playing the long game even more than it usually does.
Wall Street probably won’t be happy with today’s numbers, but the gambit makes some sense. If Costco had realized last year’s higher profit margins in the recent quarter (assuming static sales), it would have pocketed an extra $7 million in income. But it managed to book an additional $38 million in membership fees, in part, by holding down its margins to make membership attractive. Costco doesn’t really mind if people aren’t buying two-pound tins of hot cocoa ($25.99), 10-pound sacks of peanut-butter dog treats ($36.99) or a 16-bottle wine refrigerator ($139.99)—just as long as they are buying annual membership cards ($55).
