ISSAQUAH, WA – November’s cooler breezes brought in hotter sales than last year for Costco Wholesale Corporation, or Costco. In a recent press release, the wholesale retailer shared that its November net sales jumped 13.2 percent from a similar time period last year; hard numbers show an increase in net sales from 2016’s $9.95 billion to 2017’s $11.26 billion for the month’s four-week span, which ended November 26, 2017.
Similar growth can be seen throughout the first twelve-weeks of the company’s fiscal year 2018; the company reported 13.3 percent increase, with a hike from last year’s twelve-week first quarter of fiscal 2017’s $27.47 billion to this year’s $31.13 billion.
In Costco's press release, the company notes that Thanksgiving and Black Friday both fell in the first quarter this year, while last year, they fell in the second quarter. When that is taken into account it states that the approximate net benefit is 1.5 percent in the U.S. and slightly less throughout the world.
To check out more hard stats that showcase comparable sales for the four-week retail month and the twelve-week first quarter of the retailer’s 2018 fiscal year, click here.
A recent Bloomberg article explains that analysts underestimated Costco's sales power, which is makes this exuberant incline so exciting for the industry. Skeptics and analysts have been keeping their eyes on Costco to see how it navigates the increasingly competitive business landscape; the wholesaler has since relinquished their worries with proven sales.
“The results indicate Costco can coexist with large competitors like Wal-Mart and has limited cannibalization from Amazon,” said Mark Astrachan, an analyst with Stifel Nicolaus, in the Bloomberg article.
Costco’s success at the onset of its 2018 fiscal year is a telling sign that it can keep up and thrive in today’s market, even when faced with industry giants like Walmart and Amazon. According to the same Bloomberg article, consumer traffic rose 5.9 percent in November, and ecommerce has increased 39 percent, showing this company can hang with the best of them. To prove this point, Bloomberg points out in another piece that Costco shares have increased by up to 4 percent since February 2.
How will Costco's successful first quarter of its 2018 fiscal year reflect upon the remainder? AndNowUKnow will continue to keep you up-to-date with the latest in the industry.
