Costco to launch online China store with Alibaba

Issaquah, Wash. -- Costco Wholesale Corp. will enter China for the first time through the opening of an online flagship store on Alibaba Group’s Tmall Global platform. Tmall Global allows overseas brands and retailers to establish presence on the Alibaba third-party e-commerce platform Tmall.com without the need for physical operations in China.



Costco’s online store launch will extend its offering to consumers in mainland China for the first time. Initially, Costco’s online store will provide a range of products including food and healthcare goods, as well as Costco’s private-label Kirkland Signature CPG products. The company has reported declining same-store sales for the past three years.



Through Costco’s analysis of Chinese consumers and Alibaba’s Big Data analytics, Costco will select the most suitable products and brands for its consumers in China. Costco will continue to introduce new products and brands to Chinese consumers while using Tmall.com’s bonded warehouse model to reduce logistics costs and shorten delivery time.



“Costco sees tremendous growth opportunities in China, especially in light of Chinese consumers’ increasing appetite for imported products,” said Jim Murphy, executive VP of Costco. “We have chosen a great partner, Alibaba, for the official launch of Costco's Flagship Store. Our Tmall global flagship store will give Chinese online shoppers a channel to purchase directly from Costco.”