Costco, the world’s largest warehouse membership club, is set to remove its year-round book section from hundreds of its U.S. stores starting in January 2025. The decision will affect approximately 500 of Costco’s over 600 stores in the United States.
The company has cited the labor-intensive nature of stocking books as the primary reason for this change. Unlike other products, books must be arranged by hand rather than by forklift. The decision also comes at a time when more consumers are purchasing books online, with a survey by Statista Consumer Insights revealing that around 71% of people in the U.S. had purchased a book from online retailers like Amazon.
However, this does not mean that books will completely disappear from Costco. The retailer plans to stock books during the holiday season, from September to December, and at other intermittent times throughout the year. The future of the book section will depend on sales trends. If sales at stores where the book section remains do well, the section could return to more stores. Conversely, if sales lag, more stores could lose their book sections.
Costco is also cracking down on people who share memberships with their friends by requiring shoppers to scan their membership cards at the door.
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