Free Subscription

  • Access daily briefings and unlimited news articles

Premium

Only $39.95 per year
  • Quarterly magazine and digital
  • Indepth executive interviews
  • Unlimited news and insights
  • Expert opinion and analysis

Costco launches long-awaited e-commerce site with free shipping

Costco Australia on Wednesday launched its long-awaited e-commerce site, nearly two-and-a-half years after the retail giant first revealed plans to do so.

Costco members can now buy a wide range of items online and have them delivered for free to their door.

The product categories available at launch include wine and spirits, electronics, kitchen and laundry appliances, home and furniture, BBQs and outdoor living, home improvement, sports and fitness equipment, jewellery and watches, clothing, luggage and handbags and there are plans to add new categories going forward.

Patrick Noone, country manager for Costco Australia, said the company would introduce grocery, food and fresh products at a later date.

Most of the items available online are unique to the items stocked in Costco’s bricks-and-mortar warehouses. This is designed to give members additional value, Noone said.

“Online shopping is an additional benefit to a cardholder’s membership and should complement the warehouse offering,” he said.

Costco does not currently offer national delivery for every product it sells online. Medium and large items, such as large TVs, are only available in metropolitan areas on the East Coast. Small items can be delivered anywhere in the country.

“We will expand the delivery zones as we grow and will advise members as we open up delivery zones,” Noone said.

You have 3 free articles.