Retail warehouse operator Costco has posted a 5.0% increase in comparable sales (excluding gasoline and foreign exchange rate changes) in the first quarter of its financial year, to 24 November.
The business, which operates 785 warehouses around the world, of which 546 are located in the US, posted sales of $36.24 billion in the period (€32.69 billion).
Comparable sales in the US were up 5.0% for the quarter, while Canada was up 5.1% and its Other International business was up 4.5%.
November Performance
In the month of November, the business reported net sales of $13.62 billion. which was up 6.7% on the same period last year.
Comparable sales in November were 4.8%, however e-commerce sales were down 3.7% for the month, the business said, due to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday trading period occurring a week later than last year.
In addition, the business said that website performance issues on the company's US and Canadian e-commerce websites on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday also impacted comparable sales performance, albeit to a minor extent.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
