Costco's Best-Selling Item Isn't A Food Or Drink Item

Looking at the big picture helps grocery industry leaders optimize their inventory with the products people really want. Such a practice is necessary to understand why the top-selling item at Costco, a bulk grocery retailer, isn't a food item at all. According to a 2012 report from CNBC, the bulk retailer sold more than 1 billion rolls of toilet paper per year at the time (and that estimate was before the COVID era toilet paper rush) easily making it the company's best-selling product by volume. It stands to reason those sales have only increased over the years, while netting the company an estimated $400 million per year in revenue.

To understand how and why toilet paper stacks up against Costco's other heavy hitters in the way it does, consider the broader mechanics behind the retailer. Costco's model depends on high-volume essentials that drive steady traffic and encourages shoppers to load up on staples. That shapes which products rise to the top, and explains why something as unglamorous as toilet paper can outperform the store's more headline-grabbing food items.

With enough toilet paper moving through Costco stores each year to wrap around the earth more than 1,000 times, one may wonder how Costco's toilet paper numbers compare with other top-sellers like rotisserie chicken or hot dogs. Of course, it should be acknowledged that toilet paper isn't sold as an individual unit at Costco, and this notably impacts its total sales volume.

Costco sells 100 million rotisserie chickens each year, according to The Globe and Mail – less than 10% of the amount of toilet paper rolls it sells. One major differentiator between Costco's rotisserie chickens and its toilet paper (aside from how they are used) is that Costco's rotisserie chicken is a loss leader for the company – meaning its priced low to lure customers in the door. Meanwhile toilet paper is an essential home supply, popular because everyone needs it. Basically, the store gets you in for the chicken, but you leave with a giant case of toilet paper.

The iconic "hot dog and soda" combo at Costco's food court is another top seller, with more than 200 million units moving in 2023, per a Seattle Times report on the company's annual shareholder meeting. That's a lot of combos, about one for every two Americans. However, even when combined with the number of chickens sold, they still can't compete with the brand's toilet paper.