Report updated Apr 23, 2026
Costco
For existing Costco members looking to save time and money by managing their membership, pharmacy needs, and shopping lists on the go.
Costco is a challenged shopping app that is completely free. With a 4.8/5 rating from 1.6M reviews, it faces significant user friction. Users particularly appreciate brand loyalty, though broken authentication loop remains a common concern.
What is Costco?
Current Momentum
v26.3 · today
MaintenanceThe Costco app recently introduced in-app ordering for custom cakes and cookies. Currently, development is focused on maintenance with only bug fixes and performance improvements released since.
Competition
Rivals identification in progress
Rating Pulse 🇺🇸
Recent User MoodAI-powered deep analysis surfacing high-signal insights. Still in beta, accuracy improves daily. For informational purposes only.
What makes this app unique?
What Does It Look Like?
How Is The App's Momentum Right Now?
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What Are The Key Features?
Access your membership card directly from the app for warehouse entry and checkout.
Order prescription refills, track status, manage family accounts, and find pharmacies.
Shop for exclusive vacation packages, hotels, cruises, and rental cars.
Locate nearby warehouses, view services, and check real-time gas prices.
How much does it cost?
- Free app for existing members
The app serves as a value-add utility for existing members to drive engagement and increase the utility of their paid membership.
Who Built It?
Costco Wholesale
Streamlining the warehouse experience for members and digitizing professional logistics for the global workforce.
Portfolio
2
Apps
Who is Costco Wholesale?
Costco leverages mobile as a high-friction utility layer for a closed-loop membership ecosystem rather than a broad-market e-commerce platform. Their moat is the physical warehouse network; the app serves to digitize the physical card and pharmacy services to increase member stickiness. A key strategic signal is the recent expansion into internal workforce tools, suggesting a push toward digitizing operations despite significant UX friction in the employee-facing portal.
Who is Costco Wholesale for?
- Costco warehouse members seeking shopping efficiency
- Costco employees managing professional logistics
Portfolio momentum
Maintains an intense update cadence with 11 releases across both apps in the last 6 months, with the most recent major update occurring within the last week.
What other apps does Costco Wholesale make?
What do users think recently?
High confidence · Latest 100 of 1.6M total reviews analyzed
How did the latest release land?
What is the recent mood?
Recent user voice shows a frustrated sentiment. Users appreciate brand loyalty and digital membership convenience, but report broken authentication loop and poor performance & stability.
What Users Love
What Frustrates Users
What is the competitive landscape for Costco?
How's The Shopping Market?
How does it evolve in the Shopping market?
Costco is losing ground.
| Category | Chart | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shopping | Free | #10 | |
| Overall | Free | #55 | ▲3 |
The outtake for Costco
Strengths to defend, gaps to attack
Core Strengths
- Massive brand loyalty and established member base
- Deep integration of Pharmacy and Travel services
- Digital Membership Card accepted for warehouse entry
Critical Frictions
- Critical 2FA authentication loop bug
- Severe performance lag and stability issues
- Subpar search accuracy and irrelevant results
Growth Levers
- Implement 'Scan & Go' to match competitor feature sets
- Optimize 2FA flow for mobile multi-tasking
- Improve search relevance through database linking
Market Threats
- Sam's Club perceived as having superior mobile technology
- Declining app store rankings (↓25 Overall)
- User churn to physical-only shopping due to app frustration
What are the next best moves?
Fix the 2FA Authentication Loop
This is the top complaint theme and a critical blocker preventing users from even entering the app, directly impacting retention.
Optimize Page Load Speeds and Stability
Users report the app is 'extremely slow and laggy,' which is a primary driver of the 'Frustrated' sentiment mood.
Research 'Scan & Go' Implementation
Users are explicitly citing this as a reason for giving lower ratings and comparing the app unfavorably to Sam's Club.
Key Takeaways
If I were the PM, I would immediately halt feature development to fix the 2FA login loop and performance lag, as these technical failures are undermining Costco's massive brand loyalty. The app's long-term competitiveness depends on closing the 'Scan & Go' gap with Sam's Club, but technical stability must be the prerequisite.
Where Is It Heading?
Declining
Critical 2FA loop bug preventing user registration and login — high churn risk.
App store rankings dropped 25 positions overall — loss of market momentum.
Strong brand loyalty persists despite technical issues — provides a window for recovery.