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Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 7th, 2019, 4:25 pm
by SamSpade
It was difficult to find any coverage about their "after the bell" report, but Yahoo Finance had a video link. Costco beat investors expectations for share value at about $2/share, they were expecting $1.69/share dividend.

Comparable store sales were flat to slightly up

Re: Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 13th, 2019, 8:29 pm
by mbz321
Costco is the last grasp of a dying middle class. They seem to have captured all the business that used to go to mall department stores (Costco sells a surprisingly large amount of clothing...just going by observations, it seems like 1 in 4 transactions contains a clothing item). and have cut into traditional grocery store/Pharmacy sales quite heavily.

Re: Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 13th, 2019, 11:11 pm
by storewanderer
Costco clearly has a well working formula. Good buying, efficiently run stores, and a clear commitment to value in what they sell. It isn't the best price available, but it isn't even close to the worst price and they simply don't sell junk. Also, strong efforts to be a good employer, but expect hard work out of their employees to create the efficiently operating stores and a culture of employees that actually seem to care about their jobs, which is a real rare thing in retail.

Re: Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 13th, 2019, 11:29 pm
by jamcool
So when do they start accepting all credit cards? And put in self-scan checkouts? Hell is the equivalent of standing in the checkout lines at Costco on a Saturday.

Re: Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 14th, 2019, 8:58 am
by SamSpade
storewanderer wrote: March 13th, 2019, 11:11 pm [*]they simply don't sell junk.
[*]Also, strong efforts to be a good employer, but expect hard work out of their employees to create the efficiently operating stores and a culture of employees that actually seem to care about their jobs
Yes and yes.
@JamCool, I really don't find their checkout lines here to be that bad, but we may have better front ends than some stores/regions.

Re: Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 14th, 2019, 7:49 pm
by Super S
jamcool wrote: March 13th, 2019, 11:29 pm So when do they start accepting all credit cards? And put in self-scan checkouts? Hell is the equivalent of standing in the checkout lines at Costco on a Saturday.
Costco has experimented with self checkouts at some locations. I don't know if they are really necessary. Personally, I find the checkouts to be very quick and efficient (and faster than some stores such as Walmart) with the only real exceptions being the days before Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays they are closed.

Re: Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 14th, 2019, 9:34 pm
by arizonaguy
Costco is a good retailer and they seem to know their customer base quite well. However, shopping at Costco can be somewhat frustrating.

1.) They routinely move items around the store (and don't have aisle markers or anything else to assist customers in finding items. I understand that this is by design so shoppers "treasure hunt" while finding the items that they are looking for, but it makes trips to Costco longer than they need to be.

2.) Their website is stuck in 2005-2006. Virtually every other retailer with an online and brick and mortar presence offers a ship to store option as well as the ability to see if items are in stock at a particular store. Costco has a very limited selection of ship to store options (basically only electronics) and their website offers no information as to availability of items in a particular store, only that "this item may be available in warehouses". Again, I believe this lack of functionality is to force customers to go into their warehouses (but can be a turn off to shoppers who are used to the way its done virtually everywhere else).

3.) The checkout experience can be absolutely miserable on weekends and around the holidays. Even during slower periods there is generally a wait at checkout (albeit not that long). Yes, they can process customers quickly but the lack of self checkout is annoying (as I prefer it unless I have a full cart). Again, I believe this is by design so customers have fuller carts upon checkout and full carts = more revenue.

I love their car rental discounts and there are a number of Kirkland products I regularly purchase, but I find Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, Sam's Club, and Walmart to be more "customer friendly" technology wise than Costco and I know I'm not alone.

Re: Costco beat expectations (their 2nd Quarter / March 2019 report)

Posted: March 14th, 2019, 9:35 pm
by arizonaguy
Super S wrote: March 14th, 2019, 7:49 pm
jamcool wrote: March 13th, 2019, 11:29 pm So when do they start accepting all credit cards? And put in self-scan checkouts? Hell is the equivalent of standing in the checkout lines at Costco on a Saturday.
Costco has experimented with self checkouts at some locations. I don't know if they are really necessary. Personally, I find the checkouts to be very quick and efficient (and faster than some stores such as Walmart) with the only real exceptions being the days before Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays they are closed.
The self checkouts that they still have are ridiculous. They're the same type used in supermarkets where one has to set the item on top of the (or next to) the scanner. Sam's Club and even Target use hand wands which allow items to remain in the carts. At Costco one has to remove items (usually large and bulky) and place them on top of or next to the scanner.