If you've ever shopped at Costco, you may have noticed that it's a little different.
如果你曾經去 Costco 消費過，可能會注意到它有點與眾不同。
Costco is not engineered for a quick shopping trip; it is exactly the opposite.
Costco 不是設計給快速購物用的；它完全相反。
This is the Economics of Costco.
以下為大家帶來「Costco 的經濟學」。
It's not a grocery store. It's not a small corner store. It's huge. It's cavernous. The ceiling is high. Goods are literally stacked on pallets up to the—almost the ceiling. That's all part of the model and the experience.
Costco 不是超市。不是街口小店。它很大。店內很寬敞。天花板很高。商品真的是疊在貨板上－－幾乎快頂到天花板。這都是商業模式和經驗的一環。
I got a Costco haul!
我買到了一堆 Costco 好物!
The first thing we got is a five dozen of eggs. Then we've got salmon...
首先我們買到五打蛋。還有鮭魚...
Unlike most stores, there are no aisle signs or in-store maps to help direct shoppers. Instead, aisles are simply numbered. What's more, Costco constantly moves some of its products and cycles in new products. So what gives? Why are Costco stores designed this way? And how has it helped the company grow into the retail behemoth that it is today?
不同於其他商店，Costco 沒有走道標示或店內地圖來幫忙指引顧客。他們只有將走道標號。而且 Costco 會經常挪動一些產品並替換新品。為什麼要這樣呢？為何 Costco 要這樣設計賣場呢？這麼做又如何幫助他們成為如今的大型零售商店呢？
Costco is a big fan of using treasure hunt retail psychology to draw you in, which is basically having items on the shelf that are at a, like, wow price—because there's such a good discount, or they're just really interesting, and they're not gonna be there forever.
Costco 很喜歡用尋寶和零售心理學來吸引客人，在架上擺出的商品具有誘人的價格－－因為它們折扣很讚，或是商品本身很有趣，而且是期間限定。
The big idea behind Costco's treasure hunt strategy is that by encouraging customers to explore and ensuring that there's always a new batch of interesting deals, customers end up shopping longer and buying more products.
Costco 尋寶策略背後很大的核心觀念是藉由鼓勵消費者探索和確保一直有新奇有趣的商品，讓消費者最終花更多時間購物、買更多東西。
Today I went to Costco, thinking I was just gonna get a few items, but I ended up with a whole entire cart.
我今天去了 Costco，原本只是想買幾樣東西，但最後買了一整車。
When you go into the store, it doesn't feel the same as the last time you were there. And so, you have a sense of urgency about purchasing and also just a sense of wanting to come back, right, and check out what's going on. If it was the same every time, you might not come as often.
每次你踏進店裡時，都覺得跟上次的感覺不同。所以你就很會很急著買，也很想常常回來逛，看看有什麼新東西。如果每次來都一樣，你可能就不會那麼常光顧。
Today, Costco's one of the world's largest retailers, boasting over 803 locations and 275,000 employees.
如今，Costco 是世上數一數二大的零售商店，擁有超過 803 個據點和 275,000 位員工。
Costco was part of some of this early warehouse club concept, which was really about, instead of, like, go to the store, buy a single item, come to the store, pay membership, and maybe you're a small business, and we'll offer you wholesale prices, basically lower prices.
Costco 走的是這種早期會員制量販店的概念，所以它不是要你去店裡面單買一個品項，而是要你來店內並繳會員費，那或許你是個小型企業，我們會提供你批發價，就是較低廉的價格。
Most members pay an annual fee of 60 dollars for the basic plan, but customers can upgrade to the executive membership, which has more perks for 120 dollars a year. Membership dues are also how Costco makes most of its money.
大部分會員都是年繳 60 美元的基本方案，但消費者也能升等成為高級會員，以年繳 120 美元享有更多好處。會費也是 Costco 大部分的收入來源。
I think Costco's management's main goal is always this ethos of "can we offer more exciting items at a better price to keep memberships growing?" The model is make money on the membership, sell things as cheaply as possible. They can't just raise the price on something to increase the profit. That's against the internal code. And so that also includes things like "let's save money in how much time we spend putting products on shelves." So that's part of the reason why you see these pallets of goods stacked up to the ceiling, is, there's not a lot of time spent taking apart those pallets, putting each individual product on the shelf. If they eliminate that, there's a little bit of labor savings, there's some time savings, because they're just putting all that stuff out on a pallet, and you take it.
我認為 Costco 管理的主要目標信奉的一直是，「我們是否能用更漂亮的價錢提供令人興奮的商品，藉此增加會員數量？」這個模式是靠會費在賺錢，並盡量壓低販賣價格。他們不能只是靠著提高價錢來增加利潤。這跟他們的原則互相牴觸。所以這就包含像是，「我們來節省商品上架的時間，以減少成本。」這就是為什麼你會看到貨板上的商品頂到天花板的部分原因，因為沒時間把貨板撤掉，沒時間一個一個上架商品。只要去掉這個步驟，就可以節省一點人力和一些時間，因為他們只要把所有東西擺在貨板上，讓你拿走就好。
Costco says that an average item in the store is only marked up 11 percent, compared to the 25 to 50 percent, often seen in retail. This commitment to low prices hasn't just kept customers loyal; it has also helped spread the brand.
Costco 表示店內一般的商品都只有以成本加價 11% 販售，比起其他零售店，常見都是加價 25 到 50%。這種確保低價的策略不僅讓消費者保有忠誠；還幫助拓展品牌。
There's a psychology to finding a deal that's very satisfying for people, and people enjoy the product selection at Costco. They have very skilled merchants that usually have been employed there for a very long time and really know what a Costco customer likely would want. And they're good at getting good prices on those products.
要讓顧客有非常滿意的購物體驗，這牽涉到心理學，而大家很喜歡在 Costco 選購商品。Costco 有很厲害的售貨員，通常都已經在那邊工作很久，很了解他們的顧客可能會想要什麼。而且他們的定價策略也很棒。
I got Premier Protein flavor vanilla.
我買到 Premier Protein 的香草口味。
And that sort of creates a certain frenzy around finding those things.
而那也帶起了一股挖寶旋風。
I got the Kirkland brand microwave popcorn.
我買到 Kirkland 的微波爆米花了。
I got two packs of bottled water.
我買到兩組瓶裝水。
Most retailers might assume that shoppers want more choices, not less.
大部分的零售業者會預設消費者想要多一點選擇，而不是少一點。
They sell a limited number of items, so that means they have to be pretty precise. They think about, like, giving space to a product in their store differently than a Walmart would. And if that product doesn't sell, like, it's out of there. It's very cutthroat. If you're a product on the shelf, you have to earn your place.
他們販賣的品項有限，這就表示他們得很精準。他們在想要怎麼分配賣場空間時，就會跟 Walmart 很不一樣。如果商品賣得不好，就會被淘汰。競爭非常激烈。如果商品想繼續留在架上，就得自己去贏得那個位置。
The average Costco warehouse stocks about 3,700 products at any given time, less than one tenth of most supermarkets, 40 to 50,000 items. But even though Costco stocks fewer items, the items they do stock have a reputation.
一般來說，Costco 的庫藏量隨時都在 3,700 項左右，比起大部分超市的 4 萬到 5 萬，不到十分之一。但即使 Costco 的庫存比較少，他們的貨都是很熱銷的商品。
I see you've noticed me rolling up the sleeves on my new Kirkland Signature Quarter-Zip that my mother got me for the holidays.
我想你們都注意到我捲起我新的 Kirkland Signature 1/4 拉鍊上衣的袖子，這是我媽聖誕節買給我的。
Kirkland is Costco's, you know, private label brand. It's their store brand. It's a brand that when they wanna offer something at a certain price, they don't feel a manufacturer supplier can do it, they build it themselves.
Kirkland 是 Costco 的自有品牌。那是他們自己的牌子。這個品牌是當他們想要用特定價格提供某商品，但覺得製造商或供應商做不到時，他們就會自己做。
Since it was launched in 1995, the in-house brand has built a reputation for quality and low prices on everyday items. Today, Kirkland products make up a quarter of Costco's 166 billion dollars in annual sales.
自從 1995 年創立以來，這個自有品牌在日常用品方面建立了高品質和低價的口碑。如今，Kirkland 商品占了 Costco 1,660 億美元年收的四分之一。
But when you talk to customers, I think they generally feel that it doesn't necessarily need to be fancy because they've already bought into this Costco pitch, which is: "This is high quality, and it's a lower price, and you don't need to be afraid of it."
但你要是聽消費者說，他們大部分會覺得商品不必很豪華，因為他們已經信了 Costco 的廣告，也就是：「這商品物美價廉，你不必擔心。」
That customer loyalty helped Costco remain strong during the pandemic.
那份顧客忠誠度讓 Costco 在疫情中依然屹立不搖。
Costco is certainly a model that has not only survived the pandemic but has really thrived in the pandemic.
Costco 的商業模式不僅僅是挺過疫情，還在疫情中蓬勃發展。
Despite the increased popularity of online shopping, Costco's leaned into its strategy of driving members to its stores.
儘管網路購物越來越受歡迎，Costco 傾向於吸引顧客來店消費。
It's really interesting to me because, for years, people have questioned Costco. You know, Amazon's gonna get you. You gotta get bigger online. And that really hasn't played out yet.
They've said explicitly, "We prefer people to come into the store and shop." We want impulse buys. We want people to come and see what we have and buy more. We work better that way, and it's cheaper.
我覺得很有趣，因為多年來，大家都一直在質疑 Costco。大家說，Amazon 會趕上你。你得趕快拓展網路市場。但這件事現在還沒發生。他們很明確地說，「我們比較想要大家來店裡消費。」我們想要衝動購物。我們想要大家來店裡看看我們有的商品並買更多。這個模式比較適合我們，也更便宜。
- 「怎麼會這樣」- what gives
So what gives? Why are Costco stores designed this way?
為何 Costco 要這樣設計賣場呢？這麼做又如何幫助他們成為如今的大型零售商店呢？ - 「（在成本的基礎上）加價」- (be) marked up
Costco says that an average item in the store is only marked up 11 percent.
Costco 表示店內一般的商品都只有以成本加價 11% 販售，
