为什么Costco如此受人喜爱

经济学人：

In the nearly 40 years that The Economist has served up its Big Mac index, the price of the McDonald’s burger in America has more than tripled. In that same period the cost of another meaty treat—a hot-dog-and-drink combo at Costco—has remained steady at $1.50. Last year customers of the American big-box retailer devoured 200m of them. Richard Galanti, Costco’s longtime finance boss, once promised to keep the price frozen “for ever”.

《经济学人》提供巨无霸指数近 40 年来，美国麦当劳汉堡的价格上涨了两倍多。同一时期，另一种肉类食品（Costco 的热狗饮料组合）的价格一直稳定在 1.5 美元。去年，这家美国大型零售商的顾客消费了 2 亿件。 Costco 的长期财务主管理查德·加兰蒂 (Richard Galanti) 曾承诺“永远”保持价格冻结。

Customers are not the only fans of Costco, as the outpouring of affection from Wall Street analysts after Mr Galanti announced his retirement on February 6th made clear. The firm’s share price is 430 times what it was when he took the job nearly four decades ago, compared with 25 times for the s&p 500 index of large companies. It has continued to outperform the market in recent years. What lies behind its enduring success?

顾客并不是 Costco 的唯一粉丝，加兰蒂先生于 2 月 6 日宣布退休后，华尔街分析师的热情就表明了这一点。该公司的股价是他近四十年前接任时的 430 倍，而标准普尔 500 指数大公司的股价为 25 倍。近年来，其表现持续跑赢大市。其持久成功的背后是什么？

Costco is the world’s third-biggest retailer, behind Walmart and Amazon. Though its sales are less than half of Walmart’s, its return on capital, at nearly 20%, is more than twice as high. Charlie Munger, a famed investor who served on Costco’s board from 1997 until his death last year, called it a “perfect damn company”. Mr Galanti, who describes Costco’s business model as “arrogantly simple”, says the company is guided by a simple idea—hook shoppers by offering high-quality products at the lowest prices. It does this by keeping markups low while charging a fixed membership fee and stocking fewer distinct products, all while treating its employees generously.

Costco 是全球第三大零售商，仅次于沃尔玛和亚马逊。尽管其销售额不到沃尔玛的一半，但其资本回报率接近 20%，是沃尔玛的两倍多。著名投资者查理·芒格 (Charlie Munger) 从 1997 年一直担任 Costco 董事会成员直至去年去世，他称这家公司是“完美的公司”。加兰蒂先生将好市多的商业模式描述为“极其简单”，他表示该公司遵循一个简单的理念——通过以最低的价格提供高质量的产品来吸引购物者。它通过保持较低的加价、收取固定的会员费、减少不同产品的库存以及慷慨地对待员工来做到这一点。

Start with margins. Most retailers boost profits by marking up prices. Not Costco. Its gross margins hover around 12%, compared with Walmart’s 24%. The company makes up the shortfall through its membership fees: customers pay $60 or more a year to shop at its stores. In 2023 fees from its 129m members netted $4.6bn, more than half of Costco’s operating profits.

从边距开始。大多数零售商通过提高价格来增加利润。不是好市多。其毛利率徘徊在 12% 左右，而沃尔玛为 24%。该公司通过会员费来弥补缺口：顾客每年支付 60 美元或更多才能在其商店购物。 2023 年，1.29 亿会员的净收入为 46 亿美元，占 Costco 营业利润的一半以上。

Joe Feldman, an analyst at Telsey Advisory Group, a research firm, argues that the membership model creates a virtuous circle. The more members the company has, the greater its buying power, leading to better deals with suppliers, most of which are then passed on to its members. The fee also encourages customers to focus their spending at Costco, rather than shopping around. That seems to work; membership-renewal rates are upwards of 90%.

研究公司特尔西咨询集团的分析师乔·费尔德曼认为，会员模式创造了一个良性循环。公司拥有的会员越多，购买力就越大，从而与供应商达成更好的交易，然后大部分交易都会转嫁给其会员。这笔费用还鼓励顾客集中在 Costco 消费，而不是四处逛逛。这似乎有效；会员更新率高达 90% 以上。

Next, consider the way the company manages its product lineup. Costco stores stock a limited selection of about 3,800 distinct items. Sam’s Club, Walmart’s Costco-like competitor, carries about 7,000. A Walmart superstore has around 120,000. Buying more from fewer suppliers gives the company even greater bargaining heft, lowering prices further. By limiting its range, Costco can better focus on maintaining quality. Less variety in stores helps it use space more efficiently: its sales per square foot are three times that of Walmart. And with fewer products, Costco turns over its wares almost twice as fast as usual for retailers, meaning less capital gets tied up in inventory. It has also expanded its own brand, Kirkland Signature, which now accounts for over a quarter of its sales, well above average for a retailer. Its margins on its own-brand products are about six percentage points higher than for brands such as Hershey or Kellogg’s.

接下来，考虑公司管理其产品阵容的方式。 Costco 商店仅提供约 3,800 种不同商品的有限选择。山姆会员店（Sam’s Club）是沃尔玛的类似好市多（Costco）的竞争对手，拥有大约 7,000 种商品。沃尔玛超市大约有12万个。从更少的供应商那里购买更多的产品使公司拥有更大的议价能力，从而进一步降低价格。通过限制其范围，Costco 可以更好地专注于保持质量。商店的品种较少有助于它更有效地利用空间：其每平方英尺的销售额是沃尔玛的三倍。由于产品较少，Costco 的商品周转速度几乎是零售商平时的两倍，这意味着库存占用的资金更少。该公司还扩大了自己的品牌 Kirkland Signature，该品牌目前占其销售额的四分之一以上，远高于零售商的平均水平。其自有品牌产品的利润率比好时或家乐氏等品牌高出约六个百分点。

Last, Costco stands out among retailers for how it treats its employees. Some 60% of retail employees leave their jobs each year. Staff turnover at Costco is just 8%; over a third of workers have been there for more than ten years. One reason for low attrition is pay. Its wages are higher than the industry average and it offers generous medical and retirement benefits. Another is career prospects. The company prefers to promote leaders from within. Although Mr Galanti’s successor has come from outside, the rest of Costco’s executive team has been with the company for more than 20 years. The late Mr Munger was confident that Costco had “a marvellous future”. Its customers could be enjoying $1.50 hot dogs for many years to come. ■

最后，Costco 在对待员工的方式方面在零售商中脱颖而出。每年约有 60% 的零售业员工离职。 Costco的员工流动率仅为8%；超过三分之一的工人已经在那里工作了十年以上。员工流失率低的原因之一是薪酬。其工资高于行业平均水平，并提供丰厚的医疗和退休福利。另一个是职业前景。公司更喜欢从内部提拔领导者。尽管加兰蒂的继任者来自外部，但 Costco 管理团队的其他成员已经在公司工作了 20 多年。已故的芒格先生对 Costco 拥有“美好的未来”充满信心。它的顾客可以在未来很多年里享用 1.5 美元的热狗。