Costco which operates 15 stores in Australia, as well as one in New Zealand, has reported increased earnings as it increased membership prices in some markets earlier this year.

The company reported a 7.5% increase in sales for its fiscal first-quarter ended November 24.

Revenue from membership fees rose nearly 8% while e-commerce sales rose 13%.

Costco recorded $1.17 billion (A$1.84 billion) membership fees in the fourth quarter, up from $1.08 billion (A$1.7 billion) it made over the same period last year.

Customers in the US and Canada saw their annual membership fees rise by $5 (A$7.46) and $10 (A$14.93) earlier this year, with “gold star” and business memberships up from $60 (A$89.55) to $65 (A$97.02), and executive memberships increasing to $130 (A$194.03) from the earlier $120 (A$179.11).

That price hike impacted around 52 million members, a little more than half of which are the club’s executive members, said Costco.

Costco Australia

 

Here in Australia, in June 2023, Costco increased its Gold Star membership fee from A$60 to A$65, and its Business Membership fee from A$55 to A$65.

For the latest quarter, Costco reported a profit of $1.8 billion (A$2.83 billion), compared with $1.6 billion (A$2.52 billion) a year earlier.

Revenue came in at $62.2 billion (A$97.78 billion), ahead of the $62.05 billion (A$97.54 billion) forecasted by analysts.

In terms of products and categories, Costco revealed that that customers are starting to spend slightly more as inflation cools, but many are gravitating toward either higher and lower price extremes.

Among meat sales, for instance, it recorded the largest increases in high-end cuts and cheaper, by-the-pound meats.

“We’re focusing on the lower-priced protein while we’re also focusing on the Wagyu,” Chief Executive Ron Vachris said on earnings call, reported the Wall Street Journal.

 

Costco meanwhile gained market share in gold and jewellery, gift cards, furniture and hardware categories.

Those categories reportedly grew in the double digits, and were popular among holiday gift-buyers, said Vachris.

After having found considerable success selling gold bars, Costco earlier this year began selling another precious metal –

platinum.

In April, financial services company Wells Fargo estimated that Costco could be selling as much as A$153 million-A$307 million in gold each month by way of its bullion bars.