ISSAQUAH, WA - Costco has been all about that brick-and-mortar life of late, with expansions from coast to coast and sea to sea. While this is in no way, shape, or form a negative strategy, Yahoo Finance has reported that Costco’s brick-and-mortar focus has caused it to lag in areas that other retailers, like Amazon and Walmart, are taking full advantage of—namely e-commerce.

The news source primarily pulled its argument from a recent Citi survey that pooled 2,000 U.S. shoppers and 220 supermarket store managers. According to this survey, just 18 percent of Costco’s members regularly shop on the retailer’s website, with only 7 percent actually purchasing products. In addition, 90 percent of those surveyed said they had never tried Costco’s online grocery delivery service.

Walmart and Amazon, on the other hand, lead this category, boasting 29 percent and 25 percent, respectively, of its shoppers regularly shop on their websites. This led Yahoo Finance to bluntly assert Costco might “want to spend a few bucks promoting the fact they have a functional website where millions of cardholders can actually buy stuff.”

While Costco’s survey numbers were low, the retailer has reported growth in its online business, with sales increasing as much as 20 percent over the last couple of quarters, according to Yahoo Finance. This growth encouraged Citi analysts to “call online an area of opportunity for Costco”—which Yahoo Finance labeled an understatement.

How will Costco up its online game in order to truly take advantage of the growing market? You can count on AndNowUKnow to follow all leads and continue to report.

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