US retailer Costco Wholesale Corporation has reported $14.94 billion in sales for the five weeks up to 31 December 2017, a 14.3% increase from the same period last year that yielded $13.07 billion.
The company also reported net sales of €46.06 billion for the first 17 weeks of fiscal year 2018, an increase of 11.9% year-on-year.
The December sales were impacted positively due to there having been an additional shopping day this year compared to 2016, as a result of the calendar shift of New Year’s Day, according to Costco.
The shift impacted total and comparable sales by about +2.5% for the five-week December retail month, while the 17-week fiscal year was not impacted, the retailer said.
Comparable Sales
Comparable sales for the five-week retail month ended 31 December 2017, saw a total increase in 11.5% for the company (8.8% when excluding impacts of changing gasoline prices and foreign exchange) with a 33.3% increase in e-commerce (32.2% excluding those same impacts).
Comparable sales for the 17-week to year-to-date 2018 fiscal year, also ended 31 December 2017 saw an increase of 9.1% for total company (6.5% excluding impacts) with 32.2% for e-commerce (30.9% excluding impacts).
For the December retail month, Costco’s US operations saw a 10.5% increase in comparable sales (9.1% excl. impacts), followed by 11.9% in Canada (6.1% excl. impacts) and 17.0% in other international operations (9.6% excl. impacts).
For the 17 weeks 2018 fiscal year, the US comparable sales increased by 8.5% (excl. impacts 7.0%), 9.4% in Canada (2.9% excl. impacts) and 11.9% for other international (8.2% excl. impacts).
The retailer recently reported a 13.2% sales increase for November, reaching $11.26 billion.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Kevin Duggan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
