Costco's average customer shops there at least twice per month and spends around $100 on each visit (2024)

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Costco's average customer shops there at least twice per month and spends around $100 on each visit? ›

The average Costco shopper spends $250 per month

The typical customer visits Costco every two weeks or so — about 30 trips per year — and spends about $100 per trip for a total annual expense of $3,018.

The daily revenue for one Costco store is around $530,000. Costco's total net income was $5.007 billion in 2021. Costco has 804 global stores, with over 500 of those being located in the US.

The average Costco shopper typically visits every two weeks or around 30 times per year.

In 2022, Asian American households spent an average of $3,741 a year “on food away from home,” while white Americans spent nearly a quarter more, or $4,562. “We like our home cooked food and so we need a bulk amount of items for that and Costco is the place to be,” said Patel.

To break even on the cost of upgrading your Costco membership, you need to spend $3,000 in a year -- because 2% of $3,000 is $60, which is the price difference between the basic membership and the Executive one. So once you've spent just $3,001, you're ahead financially with the Executive membership.

The three million shoppers per day who visit Costco stores are some of the most neurologically connected consumers on the planet. Many admit to falling prey to “the Costco effect,” shorthand for spending more than they'd planned to spend.

The answer is surprising: Costco makes a profit mainly from membership fees. To shop at Costco, one must possess a membership. This permits Costco to do what no other grocery store could previously do, which is sell their items at a price so low that they break even.

Who is Costco's most common customer? ›

The typical Costco shopper in the United States is an Asian American woman between 35 and 44 years old who is married with a four-year degree (or higher) and earning over $125,000 per year. Costco's next most popular age group is those over the age of 65.

Weekdays right at opening

Another day and time customers said they noticed fewer crowds is right at opening, and particularly on Tuesday and Wednesday. "In my experience having lived all over the country, Tuesdays earlier in the day seem to be the best option," one Redditor wrote on a lengthy thread.

The average U.S. Costco member has a household income of $100,000, well above shoppers at Target ($89,400), Sam's Club ($86,900), and Walmart ($76,300), according to consultancy Kantar Retail.

Compared to the average American consumer, Costco shoppers are 81% more likely to be Asian, the data said. This affinity for the warehouse chain isn't a new phenomenon, according to experts.

Costco is a Washington corporation, publicly traded under the Nasdaq ticker symbol "COST", with its home office in Issaquah, Washington.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (commonly shortened to Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores.

But if your annual spend regularly tops $3,250, you're better off with the Executive Membership. Every additional dollar you spend after $3,250 will bring your annual fee further and further below $65 and end up saving you money in the long run.

Costco membership is $60* a year. An Executive Membership is an additional $60* upgrade fee per year. Each includes a free Household Card. Please include sales tax in all applicable states.

One of Costco's general strategies is to keep introducing new products, so shoppers are tempted to spend more. Costco's new CFO Gary Millerchip even admitted to this during the company's most recent earnings call by saying, "You've heard the phrase, people come in to spend $100 and walk out with $300.

The answer is surprising: Costco makes a profit mainly from membership fees. To shop at Costco, one must possess a membership. This permits Costco to do what no other grocery store could previously do, which is sell their items at a price so low that they break even.