Cameron Smith & Associates, Inc.’s Post

July is traditionally a quiet month in retail, but it was a solid one for Costco Wholesale Corp. The company reported net sales of $19.26 billion, an overall lift of 7.1% compared to July 2023. In the United States, net sales rose 5.3% versus 4.5% the prior year. Other metrics were up, too. Comparable sales in the United States climbed 6.3% for the four-week period that started July 8 and ended Aug. 4. Last year, that pace came in at 4.9%. In addition to shopping club stores in person, Costco members have been busy online. E-commerce sales spiked 20.2% on a year-over-year basis, up from the 15.6% rate in July 2023. | Progressive Grocer https://lnkd.in/gePBJYmn #retail #clubstores #stores #shoppers #sales #earnings #food #Costco

July is traditionally a quiet month in retail, but it was a solid one for Costco Wholesale Corp. The company reported net sales of $19.26 billion, an overall lift of 7.1% compared to July 2023. In the United States, net sales rose 5.3% versus 4.5% the prior year. Other metrics were up, too. Comparable sales in the United States climbed 6.3% for the four-week period that started July 8 and ended Aug. 4. Last year, that pace came in at 4.9%. According to Josh Dahmen, AVP of finance and investor relations, grocery categories fared well. “Food and sundries were positive mid-single digits, and cooler, frozen and sundries were the were strongest departments. Fresh food were up high single digits and better-performing departments included produce and meat,” he said during the monthly financial webcast. Dahmen also reported that the strongest comp results came from the northeast, Midwest and Texas regions in the monthly time period. In addition to shopping club stores in person, Costco members have been busy online. E-commerce sales spiked 20.2% on a year-over-year basis, up from the 15.6% rate in July 2023.

Costco is reporting great grocery sales. If you are in retail do you remember when Costco first made it on your radar? Are "non-core" retail channels underestimated? In my experience, food and Rx retailers describe their market conditions with a look at a very specific, like-for-like list of competitors, and usually only top players. There's a danger in ignoring the threat of non traditional channels, smaller companies, and independents. There's also a tendency to overstate victories in market share gains made against large competitors.

When it comes to operational efficiency, it’s hard to beat the Aldi model. The challenge is striking that perfect balance between efficiency and customer service.

Foot traffic correlates to retail sales, and unfortunately for the grocery sector, inflation is driving more consumers to seek affordable prices at leading warehouse clubs: "According to Placer.ai., all three companies have seen higher foot traffic than before the pandemic. Costco’s July 2023 monthly visits were 16.4 percent higher than in July 2019; BJ’s were 11 percent higher; and Sam’s Club saw a nearly 15 percent rise." What happens next? BJ's, Costco, and Sam's Club planning to open dozens of new stores across the United States... #chainleveldata #groceryinsights #consumertrends https://lnkd.in/enYX688V

Grocery, pharmacy, and health and beauty all played roles in Costco Wholesale’s solid fourth quarter, but the real star continues to be nonfood. Comparable sales in the U.S. were up 5.3% year over year in Q4 while ecommerce increased 18.9%. Net sales were $78.2 billion, up 1% versus the 17-week fourth quarter a year ago, while net income came in at just over $2.3 billion. For the 52-week fiscal year, the Issaquah, Wash.-based retailer reported net sales of $249.6 billion, a boost of 5% year over year. Nonfood had the highest comparable sales in Q4, with Costco’s fresh department posting single-digit year-over-year growth. An expanded and elevated health and beauty category also performed well while pharmacy experienced double-digit growth. Costco’s stock price ended the day of trading down 6.98% on Thursday. Progressive Grocer | https://lnkd.in/g8WXZD9U #retail #clubs #clubstores #grocery #nonfoods #earnings #sales

Walmart, Sam's Club and Costco Wholesale continue to gain market share of the grocery business as all traditional grocery chains lose share to them. Walmart now holds a 21.4% market share, an increase of 0.6% from the year before when it had 20.8%. Costco moved from 7.9% to 8.3% and Sam's Club increased market share from 4.2% to 4.3%. The second highest holder of market share after Walmart is Kroger, which holds only 8.9% share, down from 9.2% last year. All this is according to recently released Numerator data.

Interesting response from Woollies regarding the new proposed 'Food and Grocery Code of Conduct' suggesting that it should apply to all large retailers e.g. Bunnings, Costco. They're effectively saying 'What about them, they're doing it too' 😅 Either way, this can only be good for manufacturers and challenger brands trying to get into big retailers and hopefully good for the consumer at the end of the day! #pricewar #brandingagency #bigretail #challengerbrands

''𝗔𝗹𝗹-𝗧𝗵𝗲'' 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵: 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜n recent months, you certainly have not missed many supermarkets promoting “𝗔𝗟𝗗𝗜 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵” products. At first, it seems like a good idea to attract shoppers looking for bargains. But when you take a closer look, the quality of these products often isn’t great. What’s even more surprising is that these items are often placed right next to the supermarket’s own branded products. The difference in quality is easy to spot, leaving customers confused and disappointed. Supermarkets have built their names on trust and quality. Copying another brand’s pricing strategy feels like they are not confident in their own products. Probably what they don’t seem to realise is that, by plastering “ALDI Price Match” across their shelves, they’re actually promoting ALDI’s brand more than their own. Instead of building loyalty to their own stores, it feels like they are reminding customers to consider ALDI next time they shop! Even more ironic, a search for “ALDI Price Match” online often shows another famous superstore as the top hit instead of ALDI itself! A strong brand is honest and consistent. Customers come back because they trust what they are getting. Supermarkets should stick to their promises and deliver the quality their shoppers expect. Rather than “matching” prices, why not set the standard? By staying true to their values and focusing on quality, supermarkets can earn respect and loyalty from their customers. #ALDI #Supermarkets #ALDIPriceMatch #Brand #Customer

I’ve now seen the most bearish signal for the consumer. Costco Wholesale's famed rotisserie chicken is noticeably smaller. While its been long rumored that Costco planned to move away from its large bins to bags to reduce plastic, the change to a smaller bird is a surprise. I thought I was the only one but reddit boards confirmed the suspicion “Old Costco chicken was 5-5.5lbs. The greasy leaking bag chicken is 3lb.” Yet this phenomenon, of smaller portion sizes for the same price, I’m noticing is becoming more widespread in big CPG. Chip bags feel a bit lighter. Chocolate bars have fewer squares (even before the issues with cocoa inventory). In times of inflation, with difficulties in raising consumer prices, CPG brands look for creative ways to increase margins. Yet consumers are still spending which is going to put even more inflationary pressure on the system. What I wonder is who is going to win this game of chicken?