Alejandra Ramos Barreda

New York (CNN Business) - Costco is looking for ways to make paying $60 for an annual membership worth more to online shoppers, thus keeping them away from Amazon.

Thus, it is expanding an online benefit that was only available to club members: buy things on the websites of about 35 brands and save 20% or more.

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The program, called Costco Next, first launched in 2017 with just a few brands. But Costco has recently stepped it up a notch, offering a variety of products like Anker phone chargers, Mikasa dinnerware, weather-resistant outerwear, Invicta watches, HO Sports floats and tubes, and Sumbody skin care products. Costco now advertises the program prominently on its website and plans to add more brands and products next year.

The strategy

Costco has hooked its more than 60 million members with walk-through stores where they can spend $400 on Saturday afternoons. But e-commerce makes up only a small percentage of Costco's sales and its online business has slowed this year after surging in 2020.

The retailer hopes the online product discounts will give customers another reason to renew their memberships and signal that Costco is more than just a brick-and-mortar store.

The program, Costco says on its website, helps you bring in new products "while increasing the value" of a Costco membership.

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Costco narrows down options for its members in stores, primarily stocking the best-selling items it believes offer the most value to its customers, and is taking a similar approach with this program.

select items

Instead of offering thousands of products from hundreds of brands, Costco is choosing select items. The retailer says they are popular products from brand names that are often in limited supply.

Costco is applying other lessons from its success in stores, where it frequently stocks and adds new items to try to keep customers coming back and seeing what's new.

It's also trying to create a similar scavenger hunt experience with its online initiative: "Costco Next is continually evolving, frequently adding new brands," the website says. “Discover what's new”.

Costco members can buy products directly from brand sites and use their membership number—no coupons or promotions—to save on their purchases.

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