How did Costco become the largest wine seller in the world?
Costco is a wholesale corporation that sells its products directly to consumers with membership at much cheaper prices than the regular retail stores. In some cities, you won’t even need a Costco membership for purchasing wine from Costco.
Costco’s mark-up on alcoholic beverages is around 10-15 percent while regular retail stores have a mark-up of 25-45 percent. It means that Costco earns lesser profits on alcoholic beverages, which they cover with higher sales through loyal customers.
Costco’s most popular alcoholic brand, which contributes the most to its alcohol sales is, Kirkland. Costco’s top-selling wines are Kirkland Signature DOCG Prosecco ($7 / 750ml bottle) and Kirkland Signature Ti Point Sauvignon Blanc ($7 / 750ml bottle).
There are several benefits that a user can avail of when purchasing wine from a Costco store. Below you can find 5 benefits of purchasing wine from Costco.
Cheaper: At Costco, a customer can purchase wine or any alcoholic beverage at much cheaper prices than the regular stores, because of its lower mark-up which has been explained above. The best thing for regular boozers is if they can get their drinks at low and affordable prices.
Quality: Costco sells all kinds and brands of alcohol, but the one that makes the most sales is, Kirkland. The best thing about Kirkland is that it does not compromise the quality of the booze. It produces its wine’s from the same refineries that the higher brand names brew from, and yet keeps its pricing affordable for the customers.
Variety: As mentioned above, Costco has it all from Kirkland to Dom Perignon 2010 Riedel Champagne. The best thing is Kirkland produces all kinds of liquor on its own like wine, beer, gin, rums, vodkas, whiskeys, Bourbons, Tequilas, Soothes, etc.
Gift Sets: Another plus point for the customers purchasing from Costco is that you can gift the wine or alcoholic drinks to your loved ones. You will receive it with a gift set wrapping at a lesser price than any regular retail store. You can get all kinds of wine gift baskets at Costco at different varieties and prices.
Asterisk(*) luck: Costco puts several items on clearance, such items have to be sold ASAP. So, Costco drops the mark-up at such items to a substantial amount. So, if you find any item with an asterisk sign, you should know that you are in luck, and can buy that item at a very low price.
Some other things you should know before purchasing Wine from Costco:
Return Policy: Although Costco is very liberal about its return policy with most of its products, Wine or Alcohol is not one of them. Costco is very strict about its return policy for alcoholic beverages. It does not matter whether you are trying to return an opened or a sealed bottle, they won’t take it back. So, it is important to keep this in mind before purchasing wine from Costco.
Wooden Wine Cases: Costco leaves its empty wooden wine case near its check-out registers. It can come in handy if a person is buying multiple bottles of wine or any other beverages. You can use those crates for free for carrying your win back home.\
Home Delivery Of Alcohol: Yes! Costco delivers alcohol to homes as well, but only if you are lucky enough and living in any of these 12 States. North Carolina, Ohio, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Idaho, Florida, Illinois, California, Washington D.C., Missouri, Nebraska.
Purchase Without Membership: Generally, you have to get a Costco membership card to purchase alcohol from its stores or websites, but many states have prohibited companies from making the membership mandatory. So, you can easily purchase alcohol without a Costco membership in such states.
Conclusion
Costco is a global giant in wine sales and several other things. Costco wine sales have topped 5 Billion USD in the year 2020 up from 4.4 Billion USD in the previous year. Wines contribute 50% or an approx figure of 2.5 Billion USD to that amount, the rest are spirits (30%), and Beer (20%).
It has achieved such milestones through several strategies which have been briefed in this article above. Costco is the most popular medium of purchasing or gifting wines in the US and many other countries. It has 804 warehouses in multiple nations, the most latest one was in China, Shanghai, where it launched its first warehouse.
Frequently Asked Question
Q1. How many nations does Costco serve Alcohol in?
Ans. Costco has warehouses in 12 large nations and has planned its launch in 2 more nations, New Zealand and Sweden.
Q2. How can one order wine at home from Costco?
Ans. Costco currently serves home delivery to 12 states, which have been mentioned in this article above. If you happen to live in any of those states, you can easily order your wine by adding it to the Costco Instacart through its website itself.
