Amazon: 591k employees[1]
I think you can also argue that a happy Costco worker = more sales, as they help customers better. May be harder to make the case that if a guy putting stuff in a box is happier, the end customer is any happier.
0 - https://www.statista.com/statistics/284430/costco-number-of-...
1 - https://www.inc.com/business-insider/jeff-bezos-amazon-emplo...
They are basically a luxury goods store and can afford to pay employees more.
For instance, Wal Mart makes more money if you shop their frequently. They have a vested interest in selling you products.
Costco makes their profits off the membership. So whether you shop there once a year or once a week, they continue to get that membership revenue.
On a side note, I wonder if that's the reason that lines at Costco are so miserable and their hours are so short? Perhaps Costco would prefer that you just stay home? Conversely, my Wal Mart is open 24hrs a day and the checkout process takes a couple minutes.
So does Costco; they are profitable even before membership fees, and that's including fixed costs; so more unit sales means more profits. But the membership fees are pure profit on top of all that (and actually encourage people to shop more.)
> On a side note, I wonder if that's the reason that lines at Costco are so miserable and their hours are so short?
IME, the lines are long because of the quantity of items people tend to purchase (but they also move quickly for their length.) The hours are short because hours with low sales volume accumulate costs quickly.
> Conversely, my Wal Mart is open 24hrs a day and the checkout process takes a couple minutes.
IME, checkout at Walmart is much more variable than Costco; the average may be less time, but the range seems to go much higher. The longer hours, including hours with very low staffing, contribute to that, because there's more opportunity for staffing to not be aligned to a cluster of customers.
It's hard to get out of Costco without spending $100. They must have a large revenue/employee. They probably have $1k/min flowing out of the store; much more than Walmart.
Sams Club is dingy and poorly lit. It's a reflection of Walmart.
I have an online store and we always ship within a few hours of receiving the order. It's not hard at all. After it's shipped, it's up to the carrier anyway.
Except for the part where you pay for it.
