Costco makes plans for boosting its online sales

Costco.com already sells about $2 billion worth of goods, but it lags far behind Amazon and Wal-Mart in online sales. The Issaquah-based chain plans to introduce new mobile apps this month in an effort to significantly expand its online business.

It’s a curiosity of how the Internet works that a shopper using a search engine to find a flat-screen TV probably will not turn up Costco Wholesale, a major television vendor and the country’s largest retailer after Wal-Mart.

Costco.com is not built to attract online hits, but it does decent business — about $2 billion in sales a year. It does so by offering everything from caskets to an 18.88-carat diamond, while attracting customers even more affluent than the average shopper at its warehouses.

Now the chain based in Issaquah, less than 20 miles from the offices of online Bigfoot Amazon.com, wants to up its game online — and experts say it’s about time.

Read the rest of the article (as reported in The Seattle Times)