Costco And Sam 's Club

In what ways does Trader Joe's demonstrate the importance of each responsibility in the management process—planning, organizing, leading, and controlling?

The strategic objective of Costco is based on the concept of offering members very low prices on a limited selection of nationally branded and selected private label products in a wide range of merchandise categories while producing high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover. This rapid inventory turnover, when combined with the operating efficiencies achieved by volume purchasing, efficient distribution and reduced handling of merchandise in no-frills, self service warehouse facilities, enables Costco to operate profitably at significantly lower gross margins than traditional wholesalers, discount retailers and supermarkets. (1)

They are performing very well from a strategic perspective. No, Costco does not enjoy a clear competitive advantage over Sam’s. It does however enjoy a competitive advantage over BJ’s. the nature of this competitive advantage includes the fact that BJ’s has too many products, which makes rapid turnover harder to achieve. I think that Costco has a winning strategy because they are selective with the

Some of those values are obeying the law, taking care of their members, employees, and their vendors. At Costco two important priority is to take care their employees and to provide training and development. Costco does a great job of taking care of their employees by providing training and development and excellent benefit which include health, vision, dental, 401k, and pay etc. One important aspect of the Human Resources is the training portion of the organization. Many employees that get hire to the new position and although they might have had previous work experience but they lack in the way Costco does their merchandising. Costco used to do a great job in training the new employees. Although, for many years now they have stop training because of the time, money, and personnel it take to train the new employees. Now managers and employees can see the negative effect it has in the organization. This is also true in the performance appraisal. Few years ago Costco, used to do performance appraisal to create a career planning for their employees and now they don’t because of the lack of training. The performance appraisal included short term goal and long terms goal but because the lack of training they have eliminated the part of the

Costco has many risks associated with its financial and operational performance. One of the biggest risks that Costco is facing todays is the competition from other retailers and wholesalers, such as Wal-Mart and Target. Costco compete with its competitors for customers, qualified employees and management personnel, suitable sites and suppliers. The retail business is extremely competitive and continues to get even more completive. Such events as the evolution of retailing in online channels has improved the ability of customers to compare prices and products and as a result enhanced competition. Any significant increases of competition may adversely affect Costco’s financial performance, and make Costco incapable to compete successfully in the future.

Costco’s business model is focused on producing high sales volumes and rapid inventory turnover by offering members low prices on a limited selection of national name brands and select private-label products in a wide range variety. Costco is focused in low-cost strategy is concentrated on a narrow buy segment and out competing rivals by having lower costs, therefore being able serve a niche consumers at a lower price. (Gamble, John and Thompson, Arthur (2009)

Moving onto the income statement portion of the common-size financial statements, an increase in cash and equivalents (3.20% of total assets in 1997 to 5.97% in 2001) and receivables (2.69% of total assets in 1997 to 3.22% in 2001) coupled with a decrease in inventory signify Costco’s improving efficiency over this five year period. It is important to mention two points. First, the decrease in inventory as a percentage of total assets from 30.8% in 1997 to 27.14% in 2001 signifies an increase in the turnover rate, perhaps due to

Due to the market; bargains were more important to consumers. Fifty-six of Costco warehouses exceeded $200 million in sales in fiscal 2010, and two of these units each did more than $300 million. This rate of revenue is highly attributable to the strong entrepreneurial culture that encourages its employees and management’s teams to be creative and contribute new ideas to allow the company to constantly evolve and improve. It has been well publicized that Costco rewards and compensates its employees well. It is a well oiled machine that reciprocates its success with its customers and employees.

Design of Goods and Services- Costco can be seen to be in their maturity stages of their life. Therefore, it is recommended for Costco to expand its Pharmacy department by at least 50%.

Costco Wholesale has generated a revolution in how people shop: for the first time, many Americans are willing to 'pay' for the privileges of membership to a store so they can buy its products and save money. Like Wal-Mart, Costco prides itself on its low, low prices. However, in stark contrast to Wal-Mart, Costco has also made its exemplary treatment of its employees part of its marketing and sales strategy. It advertises itself as an ethical company, a company where it is a pleasure to work. This use of its HR police as a marketing strategy has proven to be effective, particularly with its target audience. While it caters to a wide and diverse audience in terms of its product diversity, on the whole Costco's target consumer is more affluent and educated than the average consumer at a big box store like Sam's Club. Costco's target audience members are interested

Costco is among the leading global retailers which provide customers a wide range of merchandise, ranging from small to well-known brands. The company began operations in 1983. Over the years, Costco has been a retailer in low cost membership-only leader, in warehouse club of merchandise. Moreover, Costco does not offer frills warehouse business models as its competitors do.  Costco’s major competitors are BJ’s Wholesale Club and Sam Club (Costco, 2010).

Costco’s business model focuses on selling limited selection of products at low prices, often at very high volume and rapid inventory turnover. These goods are bulk-packaged and marketed primarily to large families and businesses. Costco does not carry multiple brands or varieties where the item is essentially the same. It provides members with a selection of only about 4000 items, this results in a high volume of sales from a single vendor, allowing further reductions in price, and reducing marketing costs. Costco also saves money by not stocking extra bags or packing materials; to carry out their goods, customers must bring their own

“The key elements of Costco strategy are extremely low prices, a limited selection of naturally branded and private label products, a treasure hunt shopping environment, strong emphasis on low operating costs, and ongoing expansion of its geographic network of store locations.” To provide low prices Costco caps its markup on brand merchandise at 14% compared to 20% to 50% at other supermarkets. The equals out to a sales revenue that only equales several million dollars. This number excludes all other operating factors including the membership fees. Another important element of the strategy is that unlike other retailers they don’t offer window displays or any other thrills with in the stores. They know because of the reputation and because of the value that they offer their customers that the items that they sell offer value over all else.

Costco is the best cost provider in the wholesale club category and the strategy is associated with Costco’s capabilities and resources, which includes; a streamlined supply chain, good supplier relationships, purchasing power, high sales volumes, quick inventory turnover, and excellent customer service. The three vital components of the company strategy are low pricing, limited product selection and high-end products acquired in closeouts and liquidations. While Costco strives to beat the competitors pricing, it also delivers exceptional value in its high-end offerings and customer service, giving consumers more for their money. Given its customers are the most affluent of all the warehouse clubs, with average incomes around $75,000 and this strategy works well for Costco. However, these customers are conscious not only about money but also value for the product, this fact is supported by the members who choose for executive

I agree Costco does pay their employee significantly more which fights off the retail stereotype. The added benefits also seem to keep employees around a lot longer. Happier employees