Is Costco's Expanding Big and Bulky Channel Fueling Its Digital Boom?

The expansion of big and bulky merchandise remains an important component of Costco Wholesale Corporation’s COST digital business. The company recorded a 13% year-over-year increase in items delivered through the Costco Logistics program during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. This reflects Costco’s ability to use its supply-chain strengths to support rising online demand for larger, high-value items.

Costco Logistics deliveries include full-service options such as installation and the haul away of old items, a bundled value proposition that continues to resonate well with members. The focus on an excellent delivery experience is yielding significant returns. The fourth quarter marked the 15th straight quarter of improved member experience scores for Costco Logistics deliveries, highlighting the program’s operational progress.

The company’s investment in logistics capacity has strengthened member satisfaction and repeat engagement. We note that e-commerce site traffic surged 27% during the fourth quarter, supported by strength across categories such as gold and jewelry, housewares, apparel, tires, sporting goods, majors, small electrics, and garden and patio categories.    

Whether Costco can keep scaling in the big and bulky segment will hinge on its ability to continue investing across technology, member communication and supply-chain improvements. This logistical capacity is key to capitalizing on the continued digital demand. For fiscal 2025, Costco’s digitally enabled sales amounted to more than $27 billion.

What the Latest Metrics Say About Costco

Costco, which competes with Dollar General Corporation DG and Target Corporation TGT, has seen its shares decline 7.2% in the past year against the industry’s growth of 0.9%. While shares of Dollar General have rallied 38.5%, Target has dropped 30.5% in the aforementioned period.
 

From a valuation standpoint, Costco's forward 12-month price-to-earnings ratio stands at 44.65, higher than the industry’s ratio of 30.13. COST carries a Value Score of D. Costco is trading at a premium to Target (with a forward 12-month P/E ratio of 11.90) and Dollar General (16.57). 
 

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Costco’s current financial-year sales and earnings per share implies year-over-year growth of 7.7% and 11%, respectively. 
 

Costco currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). 

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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