Costco’s E-Commerce UX
This is a case study of Costco’s e-commerce user experience (UX) performance. It’s based on an exhaustive performance review of 637 design elements. 122 other sites have also been benchmarked for a complete picture of the e-commerce UX landscape.
Costco’s overall e-commerce UX performance is mediocre. Their UX is especially thwarted by usability issues related to mediocre Mobile Web performance.
First benchmarked in April 2012, and reviewed 27 times since then, most recently January 2024.
Overall UX Performance
637 Guidelines · Performance:
Desktop Web
320 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage & Category Navigation
27 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Category Taxonomy & Main Navigation
14 Guidelines · Performance:
Intermediary Category Pages
6 Guidelines · Performance:
On-Site Search
36 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Query Types
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Form & Autocomplete
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Design & Logic
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Lists & Filtering
61 Guidelines · Performance:
List Layout & Loading
8 Guidelines · Performance:
List Item Content
26 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Product Info & Thumbnails
19 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Interface & Hit Areas
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering & Sorting: Filter & Sort Types
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering & Sorting: Interface, Layout & Results
18 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Page
74 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Page Layout, Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
18 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Page Layout
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Images & Gallery UI
13 Guidelines · Performance:
The 'Buy' Section and Purchase Information
14 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Information
14 Guidelines · Performance:
User Reviews
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Cart & Checkout
89 Guidelines · Performance:
Shopping Cart & 'Added to Cart' Behavior
18 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Selection & Customer Address Information
18 Guidelines · Performance:
Shipping & Fulfillment
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Form Fields & Layout
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Payment Flow & Credit Card Form
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Validation Errors, Field Design & Autocompletion
16 Guidelines · Performance:
Validation Errors & Data Persistence
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Design & Default Values
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Review & Confirmation
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Customer Accounts
21 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Drop-Down & Sign-In
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Dashboard, Info & Navigation
14 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Features & Navigaiton
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Elements
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Web
317 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Homepage & Category Navigation
27 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Homepage
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Category Taxonomy & Main Navigation
14 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Intermediary Category Pages
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile On-Site Search
36 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Search Query Types
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Search Form & Autocomplete
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Search Design & Logic
18 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Product Lists & Filtering
54 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile List Layout & Loading
19 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile List Item Content
16 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Filtering & Sorting: Filter & Sort Types
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Filtering & Sorting: Interface, Layout & Results
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Product Page
74 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Product Page Layout, Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
16 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Product Page Layout
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Product Images & Gallery UI
14 Guidelines · Performance:
The Mobile 'Buy' Section and Purchase Information
14 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Product Information
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile User Reviews
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Cart & Checkout
89 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Shopping Cart & 'Added to Cart' Behavior
17 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Account Selection & Customer Address Information
18 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Shipping & Fulfillment
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Payment Flow & Credit Card Form
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Form Fields & Layout
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Validation Errors, Field Design & Autocompletion
17 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Order Review & Confirmation
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Customer Accounts
16 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Site-Wide Features & Navigation
21 Guidelines · Performance:
To learn how we calculate our performance scores and read up on our evaluation criteria and scoring algorithm head over to our Methodology page.
The scatterplot you see above is the free version we make public to all our users. If you wish to dive deeper and learn about each guideline and even review your own site you’ll need to get premium access.
Costco’s Desktop Web E-Commerce Design
37 pages of Costco’s e-commerce site, marked up with 290 best practice examples:
Costco’s Mobile Web E-Commerce Design
28 pages of Costco’s e-commerce site, marked up with 250 best practice examples:
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Explore Other Research Content
Every 2nd week, we publish a new article on how to build “state of the art” e-commerce experiences — here’s 5 popular ones:
See all 415 articles in the full public archive.
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