Costco e-Commerce Revenue and e-Commerce Comparable Sales

Grocery. Pexels Images.

This article presents Costco’s e-commerce revenue and the respective comparable sales. In addition, we also look at Costco’s e-commerce sales as a percentage of the total merchandise revenue and the YoY revenue growth.

Let’s look at the numbers!

Investors interested in Costco’s other key statistics may find more resources in these pages:

Same Store Sales

• Costco same stores sales by segment: U.S., Canada, and International,

Revenue

• Costco revenue by category: foods, non-foods, fresh foods, etc.,
• Costco revenue by category: merchandise sales and membership fees,
• Costco revenue by region: U.S., Canada, and International,

Profit Margin & Financial Standing

• Costco profit margin breakdown: U.S., Canada, and International,
• Costco financial position: debt due vs liquidity,

Comparison with Walmart

• Costco vs Walmart: profit margin,
• Costco vs Walmart: profit in the U.S. and International segments,
• Costco vs Walmart: total stores and average store size,

Other Statistics

• Costco gas station numbers and gasoline revenue,
• Costco total stores worldwide and in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, etc.,
• Costco headcount analysis: total employees and employee by region,

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Definitions

To help readers understand the content better, the following terms and glossaries have been provided.

E-commerce Sales: Costco’s e-commerce business falls under the Other Business segment, similar to business centers, travels, and other.

Costco operates e-commerce sites only in selected countries, including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.

According to Costco, its e-commerce sales do not include other services that the company offers online such as business delivery, travel, same-day grocery, and various other services.

Costco’s e-commerce business, domestically and internationally, has a lower gross-margin percentage than warehouse operations, as stated in the annual reports.

Comparable Sales: Costco defines its comparable sales as net sales (merchandise sales) from warehouses open for more than one year, including remodels, relocations and expansions, and sales related to e-commerce sites operating for more than one year.

In general, comparable sales, often referred to as “same-store sales,” measure the performance of a retailer by examining sales from stores that have been open for a certain period (usually over a year) and excluding any newly opened, closed, or acquired locations. This metric provides a clear picture of organic growth and helps investors and analysts assess a company’s operational efficiency and customer demand within existing stores.

It ensures that growth results from increased sales activity rather than external factors like new store openings or acquisitions. Comparable sales are a critical metric for retail companies like Costco, as they reflect how well the company retains and attracts customers, drives repeat business, and responds to market trends.

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Insight & Summary of Costco’s e-Commerce Sales

The following analysis consolidates the trends observed across Costco’s e-commerce sales for the 2018–2025 period.

• Costco’s e-commerce net sales grew from $5.5B in 2018 to $18.9B in 2025, more than tripling in absolute terms over the period. As a percentage of total net sales, the channel has expanded from 4% in 2018 to 7% in 2025, with a brief peak of 7% first achieved in 2020 before a temporary step-back to 6% in 2021 and 2023.

• While the penetration rate has been range-bound between 6% and 7% for most of the latter half of the period, the absolute dollar growth remains meaningful given the scale of Costco’s total net sales base. The most consequential growth year was 2019 to 2020, when e-commerce net sales surged 63.9% — a pandemic-driven acceleration that reset the channel’s baseline and established e-commerce as a structurally more relevant part of Costco’s revenue mix.

• Post-pandemic normalization introduced predictable turbulence. Growth decelerated sharply to 10% comparable sales in 2022 following the 44–50% surge in 2020 and 2021, before turning negative in 2023 at -6% to -8.5% on both a reported and FX-adjusted basis — the only contraction in the period analyzed.

• The recovery since has been steady, with comparable sales returning to 16% growth in both 2024 and 2025, suggesting that the channel has reestablished its growth footing after the post-pandemic giveback.

• The broader strategic picture is one of measured but not transformative e-commerce penetration. At 7% of net sales, Costco’s digital channel remains modest relative to pure-play and omnichannel peers, reflecting the inherent structural advantage — and deliberate prioritization — of the warehouse model’s in-store experience and treasure-hunt appeal.

• The consistent mid-single to high-single digit penetration plateau suggests that e-commerce serves as a complementary rather than disruptive force within Costco’s business model, with further penetration gains likely tied to the continued expansion of same-day delivery, grocery digitization, and member engagement initiatives.

The table below combines Costco’s e-commerce sales revenue into a single view for the latest three fiscal years.

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e-Commerce – Net Sales, % to Total Net Sales, and Growth

You may find more information about Costco’s online business here: e-commerce business.

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e-Commerce – Comparable Sales

You may find more information about Costco’s online business here: e-commerce business. The definition of Costco’s comparable sales is available here: comparable sales.

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References and Credits

1. All financial figures presented were obtained and referenced from Costco’s annual reports published on the company’s investor relations page: Costco Investor Relations.

2. Pexels Images.

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Disclosure

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist us in writing some of the text in this article. However, the data is directly obtained from original sources and meticulously cross-checked by our editors multiple times to ensure its accuracy and reliability.

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