LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / October 9, 2017 / Pro-Trader Daily takes a look at the latest corporate events and news making the headlines for Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ: COST), following which we have published a free report that can be viewed by signing up at http://protraderdaily.com/optin/?symbol=COST. The Company announced on October 05, 2017, the launch of two new grocery delivery services - Costco Same-day and CostcoGrocery - a 2-day delivery option. The launch of the two new delivery services is seen as a concrete initiative towards handling increased competition, especially from retail rivals like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. For immediate access to our complimentary reports, including today's coverage, register for free now at:

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Richard Galanti, CFO of Costco, announced the launch of the new delivery services after the announcing the Company's Q4 2017 and FY17 results as well as sales figures for the month of September 2017.

About Costco Same-day and CostcoGrocery

The two new delivery services have been launched for Costco member customers in the US just before the start of the holiday season. These services would make it easy for customers to shop for groceries online and get them delivered to their locations.

Costco Same-day, as the name suggests, is a same-day delivery service for more than 2,000 grocery items including fresh food. Costco has tied up with San Francisco, California based Instacart, a same-day grocery delivery service provider, for this particular service. Costco and Instacart have an existing partnership for same-day delivery in certain cities and have now expanded the service to cover more zip codes in US as well as the number of products delivered. The Costco Same-day service would be available from nearly 376 warehouse locations. Members will be charged 10% service fee, to cover costs of in-store shoppers and delivery drivers, for all deliveries valued above $35. This service is not mandatory and customers can opt to not pay for the same. Orders under $35 would invite additional fees.

CostcoGrocery is a two-day delivery service for non-perishable food and sundry items marked with the delivery service on its online store. The service offers deliveries within two business days for locations within US, however, the service is not available on weekends and does not cover deliveries to Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. CostcoGrocery has an extra delivery fee for orders less than $75 and is free for all orders above $75.

The Company plans to expand these services to even more locations and cover more products by the end of calendar 2018.

Costco's strategy is the need of the hour

Costco has been in the retail business for a long time, however, the Company has been perceived as a slow mover when it comes to ecommerce and embracing new technology. Traditionally, groceries business is a low-margin one, although it contributes the maximum in attracting footfalls in any retail store. The recent acquisition of Whole Foods Market Inc. by Amazon.com and the resultant drop in prices of groceries had upped the ante of competition amongst grocery retailers. Retailers like Walmart and Target Corp. have already invested heavily in technology and are going all out to improve their online and in-store sales.

Costco had reported that the price cuts announced by Whole Foods had not impacted the Company and in reaction, it has not resorted to reducing the prices of its in-store products. However, with the launch of the new delivery services, the Company is improving its service offerings to its customers and thereby equipping itself to better handle the competition. Moreover, the new service indicates the Company's contrarian strategy with emphasis on better convenience for customers than the pricing of products.

Although one may feel that these new delivery services will take away customers away from the physical locations, Costco is actually encouraging customers to visit its warehouses. Costco has clearly mentioned on its website that the prices of items available via the new delivery services are nearly 15% to 17% higher than warehouse walk-in price as they include costs for delivery and other order fulfillment costs. A clear invitation to customers who are looking to save money to visit the Company's warehouse stores.

As each retail chain comes out with newer ways to lure customers and increase sale, it would be interesting to see how these two delivery services impact Costco's bottom-line and result in increased Costco memberships.

About Costco Wholesale Corp.

Issaquah, Washington based Costco is a multibillion-dollar global retailer with warehouse club operations in 10 countries. The Company is a members-only warehouse club that sells a huge variety of items including bulk groceries, electronics, furniture, outdoor living, appliances, jewelry, and more.

Last Close Stock Review

At the closing bell, on Friday, October 06, 2017, Costco Wholesale's stock declined 5.97%, ending the trading session at $157.09. A total volume of 17.97 million shares have exchanged hands, which was higher than the 3-month average volume of 3.51 million shares. The Company's stock price advanced 4.03% in the last three months and 9.35% in the previous twelve months. Moreover, the stock gained 2.08% since the start of the year. The stock is trading at a PE ratio of 27.24 and has a dividend yield of 1.27%. The stock currently has a market cap of $68.93 billion.

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