Costco Australia: All You Need to Know About Costco Australia - Retail Wire (2024)

Costco Australia is a worldwide retailer worth multi-billion dollar. Our warehouse club operations are subsistent operating in eleven countries. The popular retailer is a vanguard in availing goods to its customers at the rate of wholesaler. Commitment to quality is the first priority that distinguishes Costco Australia from others, in terms of branding and appeal. The retailer is a commercial leader in and regarded for excellent business values. Regardless huge business and vehement intercontinental augmentation, the retailing company is consistent to support a family atmosphere in which our staff flourish and achieved their desired result and aim.

Costco is a membership warehouse club, committed to avail the excellent quality brand -name commodities to our members on best possible prices. Costco is resourceful to provide numerous locations across the world where its members can avail broader range of merchandise in addition with the comfort of specialty departments and exclusive member services, wholly conceived in detail to make your shopping experience wonderful.

The company started its operations in 1976 under the Price Club name. it was located in a converted airplane hanger on Morena Boulevard in San Diego, USA. Initially serving only small businesses, the company realized that it could succeed with a great bang by serving a selected audience of non-business members. With that focus, the progress of warehouse club industry saw the dawn and raised on the sky of success. The first Costco warehouse location was opened in 1983, in Seattle. Costco is worth $3 billion in sales and it became the first company ever to start from zero to grow gigantic in sales in less than six years. Costco and Price club merged in 1993 and functioning under name PriceCostco. This was situated on 206 locations and kindled annual sales of $16 billion.

The company’s operating philosophy had always been simple – Keep costs down and pass the savings on to its members. Costco Australia celebrates its large membership base and tremendous buying power, combined with never-ending quest for efficiency. Since resuming the Costco name in 1997, the company has grown worldwide with total sales in recent fiscal years exceeding $64 billion. Despite the economic slowdown, we have kept the costs of the merchandise low and divide the savings with its members. The best possible prices for its members are the outcome of the foundation of large groups of members and great amount of buying power blended with non-stoppable desire for efficiency.

Costco has brought noticeable changes in the retail world. When tycoon Sol Price launched a pioneering retail concept in San Diego, California. Price Club became the world’s first membership warehouse club, where well-organized buying and operating practices gave members access to unbeaten savings.

Costco in Australia and Its Expansion

Costco arrived in Australia in the year 2009 and opened a well-equipped warehouse store in Docklands. The Washington based retailing company subsequently invested $90 million in equity funding for empowering the Costco Wholesale Australia in 2011 to keep up the Australian retailing business in operation. This equity funding was done with the purpose of buying the land and the buildings following a second phase of equity funding of $ 10 million.

The US based supermarket group known for the warehouse format has seen the growth out of America and with further addition of capital contributions of a total value of $40 million.

The increase of Costco in Australia has led to the development of innovative line of shopper, which is the Captive Consumer. The Sydney’s western suburban has gone up ever since the US giant retailer has entered the Australian firmament. The US giant has started bolstering at the Australia’s online shopping marketplace. Costco in Australia is working on a unique model, where it is working on the basis of membership and the shoppers have to pay a fee of $60 each year for buying, and this continues until the trolleys get completed.

The supermarket group by using the unique selling methodology has expanded in as many as 11 locations in Australia and this is the way the captive consumer market is being moulded. According to the marketing lecturer Michael Callaghan, Costco understands the pocket size of shoppers by asking them to sign up as the members, by means of direct marketing methods and later on it provides custom designed offerings.

Australian Costco stores have been scattered in and around the capital cities and the suburban regions such as Marsden Park and Cross Roads in Sydney, Ringwood and Moorabbin in Melbourne, and Ipswich, west of Brisbane. The supermarket group needs large sized parcels over the land for increasing the setting up of big sized outlets that would be established inside satellite industrial sites. Moreover, there is going to be various types of marketing benefits.

People or prospective shoppers when plan to go to the Costco stores will be ready to have an encounter with wide range of products. They spend one, two or three hours or who knows they continue to be there for a little longer. The cafeteria out there at Costco stores has been provided out there to relish while being absorbed in shopping. Well, this is the real sense of captive shopping experience.

However, Costco’s rising presence in Australia clearly shows there is going to be a market dominance anytime soon, if it is still not seen happening. The company is also working on fruitful strategies to strengthen its online presence and keep it high up in the Australian marketplace.