UK gets first online outlet for Costco

Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - 09:27 by Simon Crisp

Costco, which already operates a number of warehouse outlets in the UK arm of its wholesale empire, is now able to offer current members and those not yet signed up to its service an online portal for purchasing products here in Great Britain.

The Costco site, which provides safe shopping online to Brits, has been set up alongside the 22 bricks and mortar locations.

Those who choose to shop online rather than in store will benefit from access to a far broader range of products, according to PCR.

As well as the everyday wholesale items you would expect from Costco, its outlet for safe shopping online is stocked up with more high end items, including things like diamond rings, spa pools and home entertainment products.

Those who are already members of Costco can start using the site immediately and pay the prices that they see onscreen. Non-members can also get involved via e-commerce, although they will have to pay 5% extra when they go to checkout, as well as the VAT, which is to be expected.

One of the benefits of using the Costco site for both members and non-members is that the retailer will deliver your order free of charge. There will also be deals and promotions which are only available online, which could make it a more appealing place to spend money than the physical stores.

Costco is clearly taking on the UK in a big way with this new online push and it certainly seems to tick all the boxes with its new e-commerce site.

It has the capital to help make online shopping as safe and intuitive as possible, since it is one of the world's largest retailers and needs to make sure that it can fight back against online-only rivals.