Costco — Alex McKinley

We made it easy for roommates to do more of their shopping at Costco.

Background: In 2019, one quarter of U.S. consumers shopped at Costco. Today it is nearly one-third. Costco is now the 3rd largest retailer in the world. The Ask:Identify a problem in a physical place and provide a digital solution.
Insight:
Bulk items aren’t just for families anymore. Strategy:
Make Costco the place to easily split groceries.

Checking the Pantry:
Researched Costco shopper demographics.
Product tested Costco app and conducted social listening to determine opportunities for Costco.
Focus groups to understand roommate bill and grocery splitting habits, pain points in splitting bills.

Making our List:

We discovered Costco consumers are trending younger than we originally expected.

These younger audiences are attracted to Costco’s lower cost per unit pricing in a time where people are facing more student loan debt and higher cost of living on entry level salaries.

Splitting bulk groceries is appealing to young shoppers with roommates, but splitting the bill afterwards is frustrating.

From hundreds of forum posts to content marketing articles loaded with tips, it’s clear people are looking to split, but wish it was more simple.
How can Costco make splitting bills seamless so roommates looking to save money do more of their shopping at Costco?

Introducing Costco Co-Stars. Making shopping for every member of your household as enjoyable as a hot dog and a Diet Coke.

Our Co-Stars.

The timeline.How Brianna and Erin might learn about and interact with Costco Co-Stars leading up to their next Costco trip.

Co-Stars key features.

For every member of the cardholder’s household.
To: easily split Costco expenses
So that: shopping together is less of a hassle

To: create & manage shared shopping lists
So that: everyone can see and contribute to it / stay organized

To: track recurring purchases (staples list)
So that: you never forget the items you need most

To: maximize the experience of shopping with one or more Co-Stars
So that: trips to Costco are efficient and enjoyable

How we get them there.
How someone like Brianna might become aware of and an avid user of Costco Co-Stars.

Awareness

Digital displays at Costco gas pumps inform shoppers about Co-Stars.

Consideration
Influencers highlight Co-Stars features on social media.

Conversion
Paid social with ad objective linking to App Store.

In-Warehouse

Banners highlighting helpful features available in the app using Co-Stars.

How this benefits Costco.

This helps Costco today in areas such as:
Membership: Offering new features that appeal to this target will increase membership in a group with a high Customer Lifetime Value.

Sales: Encourage more of Brianna and Erin’s grocery list to be purchased at Costco.

Engagement: Create upselling opportunities or increase awareness of other Costco services with more time spent in-app.

This helps Costco tomorrow in areas including:
Turnover: Creating features users value will decrease Costco membership cancellation.

Loyalty: Co-Stars of today are members of tomorrow. Current non-members are more likely to become cardholders after enjoying Costco as a Co-Star.

Data Insights: Tracking buying behavior leads to opportunities in refined product offerings and promotions.

Partner: Alicia Rydel (XD)

Want to hear how we brought the boom on this project?
Let’s talk.

CONTACT