Across almost every sector in the retail industry, Amazon poses an existential threat. For warehouse club Costco, Amazon’s planned acquisition of Whole Foods appears to sharpen the threat. 

And yet Costco continues to outperform. The company late Wednesday reported a better-than-expected comparable sales gain of 6.2% in July, including a 6% increase in the US, its home, and largest, market.  Even excluding the impact of gasoline sales, US sales rose 5.5%, again beating expectations. And domestic customer visits increased 4.2%, quite a contrast with many physical retailers, which are seeing declines in foot traffic.

In fact, Costco’s sales performance has topped expectations in six of the first seven months this year, according to Retail Metrics. Its data also showed that since 2010, Costco’s quarterly comparable sales have for the most part outpaced both the discount segment and the broader retail industry.

“By every measure these results are best in class,” said Barclays analyst Karen Short in a note Thursday. “The company remains insulated from Amazon.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: retail.emarketer.com