Costco sales sees a positive May, after flat April

While Costco reported big e-commerce gains in April, the wholesale club store had a flat 0% reporting in same-store sales for the month in the U.S., and a nearly 5% drop in Canada. May revealed better days, demonstrating a 5.4% increase in comparable sales company wide for the four weeks ended May 31, a more than 6% gain for the 39 weeks.

Costco reported net sales of $12.55 billion for the retail month of May, an increase of 7.5%  from $11.67 billion last year. The previous month’s reporting showed net sales drop nearly 2%.

E-commerce continued to see massive gains, as the retailer reported a 106.2% lift for the four weeks and a 37.5% lift for the 39 weeks. This exceeded what it reported the month before with its nearly 88% bump in online sales.

Last month, Costco said issues from the coronavirus pandemic impacted sales negatively with stay-at-home orders, social distancing restrictions and some mandatory closures that led to decreased traffic and sales in its warehouses. The positive change in May could reflect in some changes to how the pandemic is impacting the retailer.