There’s something comforting about walking into a Costco warehouse to do your shopping.
Even though you’ve paid a membership fee to access the store, you can generally feel confident that you’re getting a great price on the items you’re purchasing, whether it’s everyday essentials, holiday gifts, or a snacky splurge.
Another important thing Costco does is make the shopping experience hassle-free.
At most retailers, if you want to get a discount, you have to remember to swipe your store loyalty card or, worse yet, load weekly digital coupons onto it. Who has time for that?
At Costco, when products go on sale, you get the sale price. You don’t need to clip or load a coupon.
But while shopping at Costco can certainly save you money, you might also end up spending more money than expected – especially now that Costco is implementing new tactics to make more money off its members.
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Costco isn’t hurting for revenue
At a time when so many retailers are floundering, Costco is having a great run. And a big reason is that the company is so committed to holding prices steady.
Many retailers are raising prices to combat tariffs. Costco, meanwhile, has maintained inflation-proof pricing on some of its most popular products, including its $1.50 hot dog and soda combo and its famous rotisserie chicken.
Related: Costco quietly drops popular product angering members
It’s no wonder, then, that Costco just had a stellar quarter, as the company recently reported.
Costco’s Q4 2025 results by the numbers
During the company’s most recent quarter:
- Net income was $2.61 billion, up 11% year over year.
- Net sales were $84.43 billion, up 8% year over year.
- Membership fee income was $1.72 billion, up 14% year over year.
- Shopping frequency increased 3.7% worldwide.
- Average transaction tickets were up 1.9% worldwide.
Source: Costco earnings call transcript
But while Costco is clearly in a strong position thanks to its recent success, that doesn’t mean the company isn’t trying to boost its revenue even more.
Costco employs stealth tactics to boost its bottom line
Costco is not the sort of retailer to back down when it comes to revenue-enhancing tactics. Now, it’s quietly finding ways to encourage members to boost their spending.
During the company’s last earnings call, CFO Gary Millerchip shared, “During the fourth quarter, we launched more relevant messaging on the Costco.com homepage, highlighting different offers, depending on the individual’s membership type and co-brand credit card status.”
Related: Costco shares key plan to keep prices down
As Millerchip explained, “Executive members are shown information about executive benefits, while Gold Star members are encouraged to upgrade their membership and nonmembers are shown information about becoming members.”
In addition, Millerchip said, “Co-brand cardholders will be shown offers associated with ongoing spend campaigns, while non-cardholders will be shown acquisition offers.”
This subtle messaging may go over better with members than the tactic of badgering them to upgrade during the in-store checkout process. In fact, earlier this year, Costco members had started to complain that the company’s approach was too aggressive.
Of course, it’s easy to see why Costco would encourage membership upgrades. Membership fee revenue is basically free money for Costco. And the more it collects, the more it can use that revenue to offset costs and maintain its competitive pricing.
The fact that Costco is also working to enhance its website is encouraging.
Millerchip said the company “spent a lot of time as a team focusing on how can we continue to invest in improving the digital experience.”
It’ll be interesting, though, to see if Costco’s more subtle upgrade tactics work, or if members will push back. At a time when costs are up across the board, members may be hesitant to upgrade to the Executive tier not because they don’t see the value, but because money is simply too tight.
Maurie Backman owns shares of Costco.
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