Costco, Blind or Brilliant?

Costco, Blind or Brilliant?

Costco, Blind or Brilliant?

I occasionally run into situations where I think; "Are you kidding me", "Is this really necessary", "who came up with this dumb rule" and no I am not talking about the federal government. I'm talking about Costco. You know the wholesale retail store; their massive Red and Blue logo has become synonymous with bulk products at low prices. It is hard to argue with the facts, Costco was the first retail store to grow from zero to $3 Billion dollars in less than three years.

Started in Washington state by Jim Sinegal and Jeffery Brotman the first Costco officially opened in Seattle on September 15th, 1983. Since that time Costco's rise has been nothing short of Meteoric. In 1993 Costco merged with Price Club to cement their future as one of the largest wholesale shopping chains in Northern America. And with sales in the billions of dollars (for the fiscal year ending August 31, 2009 the company generated $71.42 Billion dollars in revenue with $1.09 billion in net profit) they are obviously doing something right. But, just because something is making money doesn't mean they don't have problems, right?

I have to admit that I am a fan of Costco and shop there frequently but, there is one thing I hate, no scratch that, one thing I loath! I am usually busy, on the phone, or just in a hurry and as I enter the building I am accosted by an elderly employee demanding to see my membership card. Now I understand the basic fundamentals of the request, after all it is designed as an exclusive membership, you have to pay to be part of the club. However, some states require that liquor and gas be open to the public and federal law says that the public can not be precluded from the pharmacy. So why demand me to stop, dig around in my wallet just to prove that I am part of your club? On top of that lies the fact that you can't buy anything unless you have your card. Trust me I have tried, they are sticklers on this rule. So even if you did get through the geriatric guard at the front door you still have to prove you are part of the club. So whats the point, really?

Why would you frustrate your clients the second that they walk into your store? Literally throwing up a barrier and denying access? I understand the pretense of making it look exclusive, but do you really want to steer away your clients from spending money. I mean whats the worst that can happen, they don't have a Costco membership so they end up browsing your products, seeing the great prices, maybe buying an unbelievable cheap lunch (prices haven't changed for a hot dog since 1985), then decide they want to be a member and sign-up.

Now Costco is a little bit different than most companies and probably significantly different than your company, I mean they are established, they have billions of dollars of sales annually, and they have enough purchasing power to make vendors bend to their will (only company in history to force Coca Cola to lower their prices). But I will guarantee that there are many of you reading this that are putting up similar barriers to your client.Do you require names, email, phone numbers or blood samples before you allow your prospective clients to sample your product or even buy anything? Take a moment and look at what you can do to make it easier for your clients to buy, unless you have the ability to sell products at the same price you were selling them in 1985, then apparently it doesn't matter.

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