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Key Takeaways
- The average customer's Costco Wholesale visit lasted 37.3 minutes in the first half of 2024, according to a marketing data provider. Costco kept customers in-store longer than rivals Walmart and Target.
- Customers have consistently increased their "dwell time" in Costco stores since the first half of 2021, unlike at Walmart or Target.
- Costco has 76 million members and recently raised its membership price for the first time in seven years.
Not only does Costco Wholesale (COST) do a good job of getting its 76 million members in the door—but, according to a new report, manages to keep them there, too.
The average Costco visit lasted 37.3 minutes for U.S. customers in the first half of 2024, according to a Monday report from Emarketer citing data from Placer.ai. That’s more than Walmart (WMT) (31.8 minutes) and Target (TGT) (28.7 minutes), according to the report.
Costco is also the only one of the three to see its average "dwell time" for customers staying in-store increase from the first half of 2021 to the same period this year.
A Treasure Hunt
One likely reason for the extended stays is that Costco frequently changes its layout, creating a "treasure hunt" experience for customers. The membership-based retailer isn’t alone in changing things up, but it is notorious for rotating its stock of items.
In general, grocery stores are often known to stock essentials, like bread, milk, and eggs near the back of the store so customers have to walk all the way through to find them.
Costco had 76 million members at the end of its most recent quarter, but starting Sept. 1 those members are paying more. After the retailer raised its membership price for the first time in seven years, executives said on an earnings call last week that they haven't seen any meaningful changes to renewal trends in the first month.
Read the original article on Investopedia.