Do they have Forklifts Customers can use so you can buy pallet loads and load them onto a Flat Deck Truck?

Dial111: I just cannot see why anyone would brave the crowds (90% sure it’s going to be disgustingly packed) on opening week just to try save a couple bucks.

Not worth it in my opinion, much prefer to wait till the dust settles.

Im not in AKL, or where Costco will be in the near future, ChCh, but here are my thoughts. 

1. As they sell in bulk, you would need to bank up initially. As the sugar and toilet paper as two examples are a buy once and stock up 

2. You would still need to go to a supermarket, so its a two shop, shop.

So say you do a $250 shop, thats probably a $500 shop at Costco, then top up at a regular supermarket. Then.. the Costco trip will be every few weeks and a smaller shop at the regular supermarket.

Is that a fair summary? 

EDIT:

Then the duopoly competes, making the Costco savings less worthwhile??? 

cruxis:

Do they have Forklifts Customers can use so you can buy pallet loads and load them onto a Flat Deck Truck?

MadEngineer: If you have an account, you can do this at any other supermarket. I’ve collected pallet loads of alcohol like that before.

So how it went was that I turned up around 2ish, and they wouldn't let me queue for the actual Costco parking and made me go into a dirt field (well gravel really) I could see others struggling with the trolleys so went right to the back of it by the footpath on the other side - should have backed in really. A trolley with 50+ kgs on it is enough of a battle to get up the hill from Costco to the dirt car park. Not moving at all over the gravel.

There was crap all mobile data when there on vodafone, many bars, no working data mostly. Made price comparison hard when it only seemed to work at the front of the store.

There is not much selection. They have a few pallets of one thing, and that's it. So there was dr pepper in mass quantities, no diet or cherry or any other flavours. Same for the A&W - just the normal one. Was cherry coke thankfully.

The $7 chickens had a queue all the way thru the food area so it was hard to get thru there. Everywhere else was fine, everyone was pretty courteous with trolleys - not like pak n save with the morons that block stuff. Got 2 6 packs of large muffins for $13ish. Bigger than the ones that are sold at the Z counter and pretty nice.

I didn't get any cold things because I had nothing to keep them cold in and it was pretty obvious that the trolley was heavy enough with drinks. Will revisit on the weekend or next week.

Jerky in giant bags for ~$20ish. NZ made jack links and kirkland meat things, and one other brand that is Aussie made.

There were free samples everywhere but I didnt bother. One of them was giving slices of some apples that they were selling. Another was pellegreno water.

I did get a chromebook that was cheaper than PB tech since I needed another, and a little lithium jumpstarter that oddly enough has shell as its brand. Also some starwars and hello kitty branded pyrex for the kitchen.

All the kitchen storage stuff I could find was in pre-packaged assortments of sizes so thats something I will stick with getting ones I want from warehouse/mitre10 etc.

I see they are now talking about new locations for new Costco sites in NZ. Wellington, Chch and another Auckland location is mentioned. Personally, I could see the benefits of having one located in Palmerston North. Heaps of available land, on the main trunk so shipping is easier, will serve a large catchment of customers that tend to buy in bulk (farmers and those in remote areas) and isn't a big trip for people living anywhere from Wellington to Taihape, Dannevirke etc. So where do you think Costco should look at next?

To make good use of Costco you need to be smart. If you buy bulk toilet paper, thats a saving. Usage doesn't change. Say you buy a 12 pack of soft drink each grocery week. For the kids, or the odd treat. Say you can buy a 60 pack at Costco with a great saving. Will that last 5 weeks as per your regular shop?  Nope. 

Costco is a great idea, but I fear some will buy more in bulk to save, but then use more of some products. Could mean the average grocery weekly cost isn't a saving after all for some who follow the marketing ploys. 

tdgeek:

 

So say you do a $250 shop, thats probably a $500 shop at Costco, then top up at a regular supermarket. Then.. the Costco trip will be every few weeks and a smaller shop at the regular supermarket.

 

Is that a fair summary? 

 

EDIT:

 

Then the duopoly competes, making the Costco savings less worthwhile??? 

 

That's a fair summary, except your edit. That never eventuates because, as I've said nuuuumerous times, Costco does not compete with supermarkets. It's not playing the same game, which is why the supermarkets have no need to compete with them. It's also why that whole regulatory thing about forcing a wholesaler to sell at wholesale to third parties is insane - they don't need an exemption because they already sell wholesale to anyone who pays $55 (assuming business).

Kyanar:

 

EDIT:

 

Then the duopoly competes, making the Costco savings less worthwhile??? 

 

That's a fair summary, except your edit. That never eventuates because, as I've said nuuuumerous times, Costco does not compete with supermarkets. It's not playing the same game, which is why the supermarkets have no need to compete with them. It's also why that whole regulatory thing about forcing a wholesaler to sell at wholesale to third parties is insane - they don't need an exemption because they already sell wholesale to anyone who pays $55 (assuming business).

 

You are probably correct. Why discount sugar to compete with the New World regular (who still needs the weekly NW shop as Costco has a small supply of products)

when you wont get the sale from the NW/Costco user, you just waste the discount on people who don't go to Costco. Hence no need to compete.

Costco "could" set aside 6 aisles for typical supermarket goods at a highly competitive price, to get New World users sales, and get more bodies to go the Costco way, if they cant be bothered having to shop at Costco and New World. But thats not their business model. But they could operate a side by side supermarket, to me it makes total sense.  

I have wanted a CCC hoodie for years but baulked at the idea of paying an $80 retail ($60 RYOS but limited colour choices) sticker price.

They're $43 at Costco. 

I've already paid for my membership in fuel savings so anything over and above this is a bonus IMO. 

I can't wait to try their pizzas.

maoriboy:

So where do you think Costco should look at next?

tdgeek:

 

But they could operate a side by side supermarket, to me it makes total sense.  

 

Except that's not their business model either. They operate in a model where they purchase bulk goods at cut-rate pricing due to the scale, to the point that they even have the supplier change the packaging shape to optimise shipping quantities, and sell it with a modest margin. Costco couldn't operate a side by side supermarket, because they don't have the goods to sell in one, and it would break their business model to attempt it.

Kyanar:

 

Except that's not their business model either. They operate in a model where they purchase bulk goods at cut-rate pricing due to the scale, to the point that they even have the supplier change the packaging shape to optimise shipping quantities, and sell it with a modest margin. Costco couldn't operate a side by side supermarket, because they don't have the goods to sell in one, and it would break their business model to attempt it.

 

On that, I wonder if we'll see some Costco product make its way into dairies as you've got to imagine they'd be supplying to trade as well. 

GV27:

 

On that, I wonder if we'll see some Costco product make its way into dairies as you've got to imagine they'd be supplying to trade as well. 

 

Nope, as they don't typically sell bulk multi-packs, they sell bulk single-packs. A dairy wouldn't stock 25KG of sugar, or 5KG of Vegemite. It's not their model.

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