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 863 design elements. 196 other sites have also been benchmarked for a complete picture of the e-commerce UX landscape.
Costco’s overall e-commerce UX performance is poor. Their UX is especially thwarted by usability issues related to broken Order Tracking & Returns, poor On-Site Search, and poor Homepage & Category performances.
First benchmarked in April 2012, and reviewed 24 times since then, most recently December 2022.
Overall UX Performance
866 Guidelines · Performance:
Desktop Web
482 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage & Category
54 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Category Taxonomy
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Main Navigation
16 Guidelines · Performance:
Intermediary Category Pages
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Layout
12 Guidelines · Performance:
On-Site Search
47 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Query Types
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Form & Logic
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Autocomplete
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Results Logic & Guidance
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Results Layout & Filtering
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Lists & Filtering
90 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Lists: Layout & Loading
13 Guidelines · Performance:
List Layout
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Loading Products
5 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Product Info & Thumbnails
22 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Product Info
12 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Product Thumbnails
10 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Interface & Hit Areas
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering: Available Filters
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering: Scope & Logic
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering: Interface & Layout
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Sorting
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Page
96 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Page Layout
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Images
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Image Gallery UI
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Price, Purchase & Delivery
16 Guidelines · Performance:
The 'Buy' Section
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Shipping, Returns, and Gifting
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Variations
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Descriptions & Spec Sheet
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Descriptions
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Specifications Sheet
5 Guidelines · Performance:
User Reviews
13 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Cart & Checkout
130 Guidelines · Performance:
Shopping Cart & "Added to Cart" Behavior
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Selection & Creation
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Customer & Address Information
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Gifting Flow & Features
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Shipping & Store Pickup
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Payment Flow & Methods (Incl. Third-Party)
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Credit Card Form
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Review & Confirmation
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Review
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Confirmation & E-Mail
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Layout & Flow
23 Guidelines · Performance:
Form & Page Design
10 Guidelines · Performance:
User Interactions & Distractions
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Validation Errors & Data Persistence
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Form Fields
23 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Labels & Microcopy
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Design & Features
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Default Values & Autocompletion
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Customer Accounts
38 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Drop-Down
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Dashboard
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Sign In
5 Guidelines · Performance:
'Your Account': Addresses, Payments, & Newsletters
13 Guidelines · Performance:
Account-Wide Navigation, Structure, & Information
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Tracking & Returns
27 Guidelines · Performance:
Orders & Order Tracking
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Returns
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Web
384 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage & Category Navigation
32 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Category Taxonomy
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Main Navigation
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Intermediary Category Pages
5 Guidelines · Performance:
On-Site Search
38 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Query Types
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Form & Logic
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Search Autocomplete
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Results Logic & Guidance
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Results Layout & Filtering
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Lists & Filtering
62 Guidelines · Performance:
List Layout
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Loading Products
4 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Product Info & Thumbnails
17 Guidelines · Performance:
List Items: Interface & Hit Areas
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering: Available Filters
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering: Scope & Logic
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering: Interface & Layout
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Sorting
3 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Page
93 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Page Layout
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Images
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Image Gallery UI
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Videos & 360-Views
4 Guidelines · Performance:
The "Buy" Section
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Shipping, Returns, and Gifting
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Variations
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Descriptions
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Specifications Sheet
5 Guidelines · Performance:
User Reviews
18 Guidelines · Performance:
Auxiliary Content
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Cart & Checkout
107 Guidelines · Performance:
Checkout Layout & Design
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Shopping Cart & “Added to Cart” Behavior
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Selection & Creation
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Customer & Address Information
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Gifting Flow & Features
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Shipping & Store Pickup
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Payment Flow & Methods (Incl. Third-Party)
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Credit Card Form
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Review
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Order Confirmation & E-Mail
4 Guidelines · Performance:
User Interactions & Distractions
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells
3 Guidelines · Performance:
Validation Errors & Data Persistence
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Labels & Microcopy
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Design & Input Optimization
17 Guidelines · Performance:
Customer Accounts
29 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Sign In & Dashboard
9 Guidelines · Performance:
'Your Account': Addresses, Payments, & Newsletters
13 Guidelines · Performance:
Account-Wide Navigation, Structure, & Information
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Design & Interaction
23 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Features & Navigation
14 Guidelines · Performance:
Touch Interfaces
9 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
33 pages of Costco’s e-commerce site, marked up with 355 best practice examples:
Costco’s Mobile Web E-Commerce Design
22 pages of Costco’s e-commerce site, marked up with 283 best practice examples:
Similar Case Studies
Explore similar case studies of Mass Merchant sites:
41 page designs: desktop, mobile
77 page designs: desktop, mobile, app
39 page designs: desktop, mobile
47 page designs: desktop, mobile
51 page designs: desktop, mobile
56 page designs: desktop, mobile
51 page designs: desktop, mobile
52 page designs: desktop, mobile
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 347 articles in the full public archive.