Costco

As people mob this beloved grocer amid the coronavirus panic, Costco has taken various steps to protect shoppers in stores. It is no longer offering its much-loved samples, it is limiting the number of shoppers allowed in stores at any one time, and it has ramped up the sanitization of its stores. Costco is trying to protect its vulnerable customers, and now customers 60 and older can shop between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Costco has had to change some of their ways in order to comply with the regulations made during the pandemic. This is part of their innovation to ensure consumers are shopping safely while still ensuring that they get what they need.                                              As this innovation takes place, consumers start to form some resistance. They do not wish to shop in Costco during such stressful times and give...

As we all know Costco’s membership is open to business owners, as well as individuals. There are plenty of shopping alternatives for the members which is why Costco chooses to provide them with the best services. Costco upholds its mission to adhere to consumer’s values by inputting it into their code of ethics. Costco’s continues to earn the trust of their consumers by pledging to:  Provide top-quality products at the best prices in the market.   Provide high quality, safe, and wholesome food products by requiring that both suppliers and employees be in compliance with the highest food safety standards in the industry.  Provide our members with a 100% satisfaction guarantee on every product and service we sell, including their membership fee.  Assure our members that every product we sell is authentic in make and in the representation of performance.  Make our shopping environment a pleasant experience by making our members feel welcome as our guests....

Household Influences                                                        Purchasing behaviors are highly influenced in a single household whether it be a single person living alone or a group of individuals in different life stages living together. When an individual goes to Costco they consider the needs of their household. For example, if they have babies, pampers and wipes are a necessity within their need. This shows how the age of the person in the household influences consumer decision making. Certain decisions made by spouses, parents, and even children help make purchasing selections. Costco adheres to these decisions by offering products like children gummy vitamins, toys, books to kitchen appliances, electronics, and apparel.  Social Class Influences              ...

Costco adheres to millennials by providing items like electronic items from Apple. Millennials are known to be the generation to grow up to new technological advances that have shaped them to be a tech-savvy generation. Costco also offers TVs and other electronic devices like fancy new appliances, vacuums, toothbrushes, and hair dryers. Costco makes sure to have new electronic devices for businesses but also for individuals who love those kinds of products. Costco also adheres to baby boomers' wants and needs by providing products of necessity like clothes and food. For Gen Z, products like the latest electronic devices such as air pods and Ipads are offered by Costco. This is because Gen Z mostly cares about the latest new devices as they are the digital natives. Costco tries to understand and respect consumers’ needs and wants and makes sure they do their best to satisfy them. In 2018, the age group that mostly shopped at Costco were millennials. According to a graph on statista....

  Costco has hundreds of pages on several social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, youtube, and they are solely dedicated to great Costco products and reviews. For example, on Instagram, there is an amazing page called @costco_doesitagain and their marketing is so amazing and captivating to Costco consumers. The Instagram page is considered to be a secondary reference group. Even though this is a non-marketing source page they actually have a hundred thousand more followers than the official Costco page on Instagram. This page notifies their 800k followers of the best deals and finds. On the other hand, Costco’s main marketing source comes from its Facebook page where there are 2 million people followers.  @costco_doesitagain on Instagram @RemLife on Youtube  On youtube, there is a social media influencer/opinion leader named Remi Ashton (@Remlife on YouTube) and she does an amazing job of doing Costco vlogs where she shows what she picks up from Costco. She al...

  Consumers tend to be more dissatisfied when a product: fails to perform as they thought it would - makes them feel worse than they forecasted it would. However, at Costco, they have figured a way in order to keep consumer’s satisfaction even if a product is not up to par. At Costco, consumers do not have to have their receipts or the original packaging in order to return an item. Costco is known for having one of the best return policies. “We will cancel and refund your membership fee at any time if you are dissatisfied” (Costco). It starts with the memberships, if one does not like what Costco has to offer, they can cancel it and get their money back. “We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell and will refund your purchase price*” (Costco). For the most part, Costco will accept returns and do refunds for any purchase the consumer has made with the exception of some items such as alcohol. Then with bigger items, there is a number of days that can do so. Many blogger...

Costco does an amazing job with visual aspects as they know how to affect consumers’ feelings, behaviors, thoughts, and actions. There are several sample stations located inside of Costco. Customers are able to pinpoint them when they see that there are several individuals standing near the sample stations. They tend to go towards the group of people to see what the hype is all about. Once the customer tries the sample or samples out they tend to do an impulse purchase especially if it is a familiar brand like Kirkland. This develops a habit for consumers by repeatedly making purchases based on Costco samples. This makes their life simpler and more manageable because customers then believe that the samples are both top tier and tasty.                                                               Cons...

Emotional Accounting                                 Consumers are given positive feelings with each mental account for saving/spending at Costco because of their deals and unique finds. Upon Costco's mission statement of continually providing its members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible price, consumers feel good about shopping at Costco. With such discounts on goods like name brand products, foods, and clothing items, consumers relate their shopping experience to be a positive one. Their mood can also increase when they find a certain item at Costco. This also gives consumers the incentive to come back to Costco if they have experienced a positive mood/feeling. Not only can they feel good about having an exclusive deal based on their membership, but they also acknowledge the fact that they get to save more going to Costco rather than going to a grocery or department sto...

Costco focuses on providing the best possible service for its consumers which means they are on top of their problems with persistent information research. One problem that Costco has always had is its long lines due to popular demand. Even though Costco has so many registers available they have always struggled with maintaining them. Costco recognized this problem and provided an amazing solution to it which is self-checkout! With self check-out being available customers are able to scan their products at a much faster rate. Customers will be able to get in and get out without having to wait through those long lines.                 As we all know Costco is primarily membership-based. This means people who don’t sign up for the membership can not enter or purchase anything within the warehouse. Costco relies on the membership program, which is why they won’t allow nonmembers to shop. However, as of recently, they have been allowing non...

Costco is known for understanding the bigger picture before getting into the details as it is a 42.5 billion-dollar company. So what does this mean for the customers and how they view Costco as a corporation? When customers go to their local Costco they feel as if they are a part of a club due to the fact that without a membership you are not welcome inside of the store. Costco always makes sure to switch up the store depending on the seasons which keeps the customers and their attitudes going towards a positive direction. One thing that Costco has always done to catch their customers' eye is to hang up seasonal items. For example, in the summertime and wintertime, Costco will have swimming rafts hanging and big snowman statues so that no matter where you are it is visible to the eye.  Another thing is that Costco makes sure to always keep their customers' culture in mind. With that being said Costco culture is predominant in the attitude, language, and behavior of the whole or...

Sensory memory: Costco samples There are many reasons consumers keep coming back to Costco, but one reason is because of their sensory memory, which stores input from our 5 senses. When you ask someone why they go to Costco, their answer is most likely going to be because of their free samples. The Atlantic wrote, “Costco knows that sampling if done right, can convince people that its stores are fun places to be” (Pinsker, 2014). Costco is using free samples to make its stores more fun and has people coming back because they remember the taste of the different samples and how fun it was to walk around tasting different things. I personally have memories from when I was a child going just for samples. Another memory I get when I think of Costco is the smell of the rotisserie chicken that's being cooked daily, having that entire section smelling like chicken. The way I go back for the chicken and how it smells, others go back for the free samples that are stored in their memory.  Bra...

Exposure Costco is a wholesale corporation that offers bulk quantities of merchandise that are sold at discounted prices to club members who pay an annual membership fee. It is known to be the largest retailer in the world. However, when it comes to exposing themselves through marketing, they don’t. Costco uses direct marketing, like emails as well as a monthly magazine called the “The Costco Connection,” that exposes and promotes their products. They also have sales personnel that persuade customers to buy certain products within the warehouse. Besides that Costco does not advertise. Instead, they rely upon their mission to provide low prices and product value to lure in their customers. This, in conjunction, makes Costco so successful. Costco also applies public relations to boost its corporate and brand image, like having a sustainability program for its supply chain.  Attention  As we all know it today Costco is known for its great deals and bargains that always have custo...

     Costco has proven to be extremely popular in the United States, with nearly 700 stores. Making sure they put their consumers and employees first. Costco offers different memberships in order to adhere to individuals and businesses that have different needs. This gives the opportunity for people to sign up for the best membership that is suited for them. As each membership offers a different price point with distinct benefits. With executive membership being $120 annually, it includes a free household card that’s valid at all Costco’s locations worldwide, an annual 2% reward on qualified items and extra benefits on select Costco Travel products. Business Membership also offers a free household card, valid for all locations worldwide, as well as, adding a second card for an additional $60, and purchasing products for resale. Business members must provide Costco with the appropriate resale information. And lastly, Gold Star membership includes a $60 annual fee that incl...

     There has not been a single person that i’ve met who said they have never been to Costco. Different people from different backgrounds have all shopped at Costco before. Their current customers range from single households, to a big household, and even business owners. The reason these people go to costco is because costco provides an abundance of goods, services, and experiences which is what consumers look for when buying. Costco attracts these customers to come back with their sales promotion and direct marketing. They rely on their low prices on goods and emailing or mailing out sales promotions, so their already low-priced goods are even more low-priced. Costco makes sure to focus on their price to please their consumers and have them return.  Due to the pandemic Costco has actually gained much more customer volume which is great for the business. According to Lawrence Rothman “ It was clear that customers had increased shopping at the stores when the outbre...