Costco has two objectives, to keep members happy and offer the best values on products it can at its warehouses. Keeping customers happy has a lot to do with how the business runs. If a member is unhappy, find a way to change that. A happy member will renew the annual membership, whereas an unhappy member might not.
The warehouse club's focus is on the customer, even while rivals like Amazon (AMZN) make changes that aren't fully customer friendly. Amazon, for example, recently started charging a fee for customers to return unwanted goods, when returning them to a UPS store.
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Costco (COST) remains steady with its refund and return policy.
"We will cancel and refund your membership fee at any time if you are dissatisfied," per the Costco website. "We guarantee your satisfaction on every product we sell and will refund your purchase price."
Costco continues to go above and beyond to keep its customers happy. It’s not new, but it’s certainly refreshing as a consumer. Costco CFO Richard Galanti has even stated that it will hold the $1.50 price of a hot dog and soda, forever on multiple occasions.
Image source: Patrick T. FALLON / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Costco’s Food for Thought
Costco has samples throughout the warehouse during peak shopping, and it's not that shoppers don’t know what a granola bar tastes like, but that at some point during shopping, hunger may strike. It is almost like Costco knows that food and the memory of how good something tastes is a great way to create a psychological need for it in the future or now while shopping.
The chain also has some great food options that members just can’t get anywhere else and certainly not for the same value. Good quality bakery items at reasonable prices can certainly create a stir among Costco members. The chain's bakery’s popularity is high with its latest creation, the fresh-baked Kirkland brand Lemon Blueberry Loaf.
The Lemon Blueberry Loaf sells for $8.99, and it weighs a whopping two pounds.
A heavy, thick dessert bread that is great all on its own or can be toasted with butter or even enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee, the new product has sold out at some loc. The sweet fruity scent brings the idea that summer is here and it’s time to enjoy it, and the Lemon Blueberry Loaf.
Costco Customer Satisfaction No.1
Costco has made its mark as a retailer that will go above and beyond to make its members happy. If a customer is unhappy with a purchase, a refund or return is not questioned but happily processed. So, when Costco launches a slam dunk in its bakery, it would be hard to find anyone unhappy with a purchase of its viral Lemon Blueberry Loaf or fan favorites the Pull Apart Cinnamon Rolls, or the Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, however, that is the customer's choice.
Costco has reportedly accepted returns for half-eaten food before, but finding a customer who is willing to part with any of these fantastic bakery items will be hard to find. Creating a value for Costco members and something of good quality and taste creates a shopping trifecta that leaves members raving about the latest and greatest finds at the warehouse.
While other businesses are pulling strings to meet profit margins and quotas, Costco keeps to its main goals, happy customers that buy products at a great value who renew their annual memberships.
The samples that Costco offers during its peak hours are being tested to remove the human part of the sample service. While it’s only in a test phase in Bellevue, WA, the machine sample server hands out the samples to customers.
Samples have been served up by people, but those people were not Costco employees but were employees of a third-party vendor. If the Costco sample kiosk or machine takes off, it will be just one more way that Costco is working to keep costs low and continue to offer the service as always while other retailers are cutting back.
