Costco Launches Grocery Delivery Program to Compete With Amazon

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Besides the endless supply of samples, Costco’s chief appeal has always been that you can get huge quantities of food and sundries at very reasonable prices. But, though Costco hasn’t needed an online presence in the past, Amazon’s recent expansion of both Prime Pantry and Amazon Fresh seems to have prompted the chain to roll out two new delivery services.

You can read all about the two services here, but the main difference lies in how quickly your goods will be delivered:

  • Costco Grocery Two-Day Delivery: Delivery is limited to non-perishable items and, as the name would suggest, take two business days to arrive. Delivery is free for orders of $75 or more, but there are no options for delivery on the weekend, and no deliveries in Alaska, Hawaii or Puerto Rico.
  • Costco Wholesale Same-Day Delivery: This service delivers fresh food in addition to non-perishables, with orders arriving same day, next day, or on some other day of your choice. Same-day deliveries arrive within a one-hour window in as little as two hours. In addition to prices being around 15% to 17% higher than warehouse walk-in price, a 10% service fee is added to your order at check-out, with yet another fee being added to orders under $35.

No matter which delivery program you use, Costco is quick to remind you that shopping in their brick and mortar locations is still the cheapest route to take. Plus, there are samples there; there’s no delivery option for the samples (yet).