In 2024, Costco generated sales of about 249.6 billion U.S. dollars and operated a total of 890 warehouses. As a result, Costco's average sales per warehouse amounted to 260 million U.S. dollars that year. Costco Wholesale CorporationThe average number of sales at Costco has risen in recent years from 155 million U.S. dollars per warehouse in 2012 to 260 million U.S. dollars per warehouse in 2024. Costco Wholesale Corporation is a membership only warehouse that sells a variety of products. The first store under the retail warehouse concept began in 1976 under the name Price Club in San Diego, California. This store is still in operation today, known as Costco Warehouse #401. Since then, Costco has branched out into countries around the world. As of 2024, there were 614 stores in the United States and Puerto Rico and 108 stores in Canada. Costco products can only be purchased by members and is also open to its members’ guests. Membership is purchased in advance for a period of one year.

Over the last several years, Costco has seen a yearly increase in its global net sales, rising from 110.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2014 to 249.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. Costco has made a name for itself worldwide as a members-only wholesale retailer with warehouse style stores. Costco in the U.S. Costco opened its first warehouse in Seattle, Washington in 1983 and has since expanded to become one of the most respected and valuable retailers in the United States and worldwide. Among the top three mass market retailers in the United States: Walmart, Costco, and Target; Costco had the highest average sales volume per store, at 299 million U.S. dollars as of 2023. Costco Customers Costco sets itself apart from many other mass merchants by requiring customers to pay a yearly membership fee in order to shop at its locations. A 2023 survey found that the largest share of Costco’s American customer base is between the ages of 18 and 49 years. The company also prides itself in having the highest customer satisfaction rating of any department or discount store in the United States in 2023.

In 2024, Costco generated 184.1 billion U.S. dollars in revenue from their operations in the United States. In Canada and through its international ventures the company generated 34.9 billion and 35.3 billion U.S. dollars, respectively. Costco Wholesale CorporationCostco opened its first warehouse in Seattle, Washington in 1983 and has since expanded to become one of the most respected and valuable retailers in the United States and worldwide. Over the last several years, Costco has seen a yearly increase in its global net sales, rising from 110.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2014 to 249.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2024. The company operates warehouse clubs in a number of countries around the world. However, the vast majority of the retailer’s warehouses are still located in their home market of the United States. Costco Customers Costco stands out among numerous mass merchants by requiring customers to pay a yearly membership fee in order to shop at its locations. In 2023, the majority of Costco’s American customer base fell within the age range of 18 to 49 years. The company takes pride in achieving the highest customer satisfaction rating among all department and discount stores in the United States in the same period.

This statistic depicts the sales per store of selected mass market retailers in the United States in 2023. In 2023, Costco's sales per store amounted to about 298.79 million U.S. dollars in the United States, significantly more than their competition.

The revenue of Costco, the American retailer operating warehouse club stores, has gradually risen year-on-year in Canada reaching approximately 33.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2023's fiscal year. This is an increase of over 15 billion dollars since 2015.

The warehouse club business model

Warehouse clubs offer a more limited range of products than a traditional supermarket and aim to attract shoppers who wish to save money by buying in bulk. Shoppers must become a member and pay a fee to be able to shop in Costco’s warehouses. Over 127 million people worldwide were Costco members in 2023. There are different tiers of membership, all of which enable members to use any Costco warehouse worldwide and online. Other warehouse club retailers with stores in Canada include Sam’s Club and BJ’s wholesale.

Costco in Canada

The number of Costco locations has risen in line with revenue in Canada – there were 107 Costco warehouses in 2023, 19 warehouses more than in 2015. Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, was home to 39 warehouses in that year, followed by Quebec with 23 stores.

In 2024, close to 137 million people had paid for a yearly Costco membership. The number of cardholders has been growing steadily since 2014. Costco Wholesale Corporation is a growing membership-only retail company, which offers goods in bulk at competitive prices. Top retail brands Costco had a brand value of approximately 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, making it the fourth most valuable retail brand in the world that year. The top three included companies, such as Amazon and Walmart. Based on revenue, however, Walmart Inc. was the leading retailer by far, generating over 572 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. In that year, Costco Wholesale Corporation reached a revenue of more than 195 billion U.S. dollars. Costco growth Costco’s worldwide revenue numbers have been increasing steadily with each consecutive year and are expected to continue growing. Additionally, the number of Costco warehouses has been on the rise. Between 2011 and 2024, the number of warehouses operated by the company has grown by close to 300.

In 2023, total retail and food service sales reached 8.33 trillion U.S. dollars for the first time in the United States. This is more than four times the sales numbers that were generated in 1992, not adjusting for inflation.

Leading retailers and store types

In 2022, the leading food and grocery retailer in the United States was by far Walmart, which generated sales numbers of close to 421 billion U.S. dollars that year. The Kroger Co., Costco Wholesale Club, and Ahold Delhaize were also among the top U.S. retailers. With a grocery market share of almost 60 percent, the supermarket was the top store type in 2018. The warehouse clubs and superstores category stood in second place, accounting for almost a quarter of the U.S. market.

Consumer habits

The American consumer made an average of a little more than one and a half trips to the grocery store per week in 2022. The average amount of trips has noticeably decreased, compared to a decade earlier. In recent times, online grocery shopping has also become an option for consumers. The concept is projected to grow considerably in the coming years, reaching roughly 188 billion U.S. dollars’ worth of sales numbers in the United States by 2024.

In fiscal year 2023, BJ's Wholesale Club registered net sales of around 19.6 billion U.S. dollars, up from 18.9 billion a year before. This represents an increase of approximately three percent in comparison to a year earlier. In contrast, Costco Corporation net sales, BJ's main competitor, amounted to over 222 billion U.S. dollars in that year.

In 2023, Macy's was ranked as the leading department store in the United States, with sales amounting to about 23 billion U.S. dollars. Kohl's followed, with sales reaching over 16.5 billion. In October of 2024, U.S. department store sales reached 10.4 billion U.S. dollars. Catering to the consumer One of the reasons for Macy’s success is likely its high rates of consumer satisfaction. Brands like J.C. Penney were hardly competitive when it came to this metric, and even Kohl’s struggled to achieve above-average markings via the consumer satisfaction index. Interestingly, Macy’s index score was similar to Costco’s. What kinds of offline purchases thrive? The most common offline purchases as of September 2024 included grocery store and supermarket purchases, as well as clothing, apparel, and shoe stores. Different generations purchasing fashion items also varied by type of store. Superstores were liked the most by all generations, while purchasing clothes from department stores was particularly popular among the Boomer generation.

By the end of 2023, total retail sales reached approximately 7.24 trillion U.S. dollars, around one and half a billion U.S. dollar increase from the year before. Retail sales have steadily increased since 2009, as the economy recovered from the downward trend due to the recession following the 2007-2008 financial crisis, and most recently from the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

The United States as retail powerhouse The United States is home to many of the leading retail companies in the world, including Walmart, Costco, and Amazon. Amazon, in particular, has seen extreme levels of growth in revenue in tandem with the increase of e-commerce globally.

The rise of e-commerce and mobile shopping E-commerce is responsible for a growing percentage of total retail sales, partially due to a surge in mobile shopping, with customers increasingly using their mobile devices for various online shopping activities. Smartphones accounted for more retail website visits than desktops or tablets, and matched desktops in generating online shopping orders.

The gourmet supermarket Whole Foods Market had net sales amounting to just over 16 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up from 15.7 billion U.S. dollars in the previous year.

Whole Foods Market Key Figures

Whole Foods Market has expanded rapidly in the last decade, growing from 275 locations in 2008 to nearly 500 locations in 2017. That was the same year in which Whole Foods was acquired by the e-commerce giant Amazon for 13.7 billion U.S. dollars.

Whole Foods Market and Consumers

Compared to larger food retailers like Walmart and Aldi, relatively few Americans have shopped at a Whole Foods Market in the past six months; only 9 percent according to a 2017 survey. When it comes to overall customer satisfaction, Whole Foods Market scored 79 points out of 100, above the U.S. average for supermarkets but below other prominent retailers such as Costco, Trader Joe’s and Sam’s Club.

At least since 2006, Walmart have had a stable gross profit margin. In fiscal year 2024, the retailer's global profit margin amounted to 23.7 percent. Walmart deals in a wide variety of products, such as groceries, apparel, furniture, home appliances, and electronics. Walmart, formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is one of the most well-known and valuable brands in the world. Leading retailer in the world Walmart is the largest retailer in the world. The company has discount stores, supercenters, and neighborhood markets all around the world. The company operates through three distinct business segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam’s Club. Walmart is far ahead of its rivals in the global fast-moving consumer goods sector, with nearly double the retail sales of its closest competitors. How do other leading retailers compare to Walmart, in terms of gross profit margin? Gross profit margin shows a company’s profitability by showing the profit left over when cost of goods sold are deducted from net sales. This figure is typically given as a percentage of sales. Costco and Kroger are two of Walmart’s leading competitors. Historically, both companies have had a lower gross margin than Walmart.

Customer satisfaction with Walmart was lower than the national average for supermarkets in the United States in 2024. Walmart recorded an index score of 74, which was five index points below the average supermarket rating of 79. The index score is based on a 100-point scale. The highest-ranking supermarket in that year was the trio of H-E-B, Costco and Publix, with a score of 85 each.

Walmart origins

Walmart, formerly known as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., is the world’s largest retail company, with total global revenue amounting to 611 billion U.S. dollars in fiscal year ended January, 2024. The first Walmart store was opened in Rogers, Arkansas by Sam Walton in 1962. The company went public in 1970 as it continued to expand. With store growth came new store formats – the first Sam’s Club membership-only warehouse retailer opened in 1983 and the first Walmart Supercenter in 1988. The company went on to expand into Central and South America, Canada, China, South Africa and the United Kingdom. In 2023, there were over 10,000 Walmart stores worldwide.