The decline in e-commerce of US retail giant Costco reveals what trends?

It is learned that on May 3, Costco released its sales data for April, showing a significant decline in its e-commerce business and non-essential goods sales. As the largest chain membership retailer in the United States, this reflects the current retail market trend in the United States to a certain extent.

Data shows that in April, Costco's total sales increased by 1.4% year-on-year, but e-commerce sales fell by 5.9%. It is reported that Costco's e-commerce sales have actually improved compared to March, when Costco's e-commerce sales fell by 12.7% year-on-year.

Costco's e-commerce has been sluggish for several months. In the longer term, Costco's total comparable sales increased 4.1% in the 35 weeks ending April 30, while its e-commerce sales fell 7.6%, according to the press release.

Costco also said that its average global e-commerce transaction volume also fell 3.6% in April. However, Costco's e-commerce traffic in April increased 5.2% globally and 4.0% in the United States. In terms of regions and merchandise categories, the U.S. regions with the highest comparable sales for the month were the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast.

In terms of product categories, Costco's food and grocery sales grew by high single digits, non-food sales declined, and sales of high-priced goods departments such as jewelry, home furniture and electronics performed poorly.

Overall, Costco's net sales for April were $17.85 billion, up 3% from $17.33 billion last year. In addition, for the 35 weeks ending April 30, Costco's net sales were $155.62 billion, up 5.6% from $147.33 billion last year.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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