Bulky Costco Products That Are Helping The Company Soar

Many people associate Costco with deals that come exclusively in bulk. That's why toilet paper is Costco's top-selling item, and there are indeed plenty of savings to be had by buying other household items like reams of paper towels and jugs of olive oil at the wholesale retailer. This reputation also makes Costco one of the best places to buy wine, and now even purchasing gold bars at Costco is a common practice. However, high quantities of physically smaller items aren't the only competitively priced options in Costco's stock: In fact, large, bulky items are helping the company open new lanes of business, and to strategize a path for long-term business success.

"Big and bulky" is a shipping and logistics term applied to many large or oversize products that are also heavy and difficult to move. These products often require special handling, storage, and delivery arrangements. As such, items that were once a delivery nightmare for retailers and too impractical for shoppers are now commonly picked up by Costco members. Costco is selling furniture pieces, saunas, golf carts, and other large items with much the same trademark savings customers will see with food or household amenities, and it's causing quite a business boom for the big box warehouse club both in stores and online.

Overall, 2025 was a pretty major growth year in terms of Costco sales. Per Costco's Q4 FY2025 earnings call, sales for Costco's fiscal year were at $84.43 billion as of September 2025 — up 8% year over year — with e-commerce comps surging by 13.6% (via Yahoo Finance). All told, Costco did nearly $20 billion in e-commerce sales throughout the year, and according to the company's leadership, at least part of that sizable increase is thanks to bulkier items like saunas, patio furniture, and sofas. As Costco Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Gary Millerchip stated during the call, "We continue to grow share in big and bulky items sold online, powered by our investments in Costco Logistics."

Costco leadership continues to drill down on the message of providing customers with valuable products at low prices, despite the uncertainty and strain tariffs put on family budgets. Given the company's long-held commitment to delivering quality products at fair prices and a positive customer experience, there's little reason an item's size would be the sole factor in deterring members from opting to buy something from the wholesaler as opposed to a competitor. Costco also has a habit of embracing strategies that work, so as long as bulky products are moving off shelves, odds are they'll only get easier and easier for customers to access.

Part of why big and bulky items are doing so well at Costco is that customers are able to see new, large items in person at stores. This increased visibility is partially due to the changes tariffs have caused to the chain's inventory in recent months. While consumers experience tariffs in the form of higher prices and potentially tariff dividend checks, the inventory of many stores is also being altered. Costco has led the charge as a retailer suing President Trump and his administration over the high cost and questionable legality of tariffs, but it's also had to re-evaluate exactly what it sells and where it sources its products. This means some Costco stores could have more physical floor space to show off oversize items.

"We're bringing in, you know, backyard sheds in the fall, which are doing very, very well for us, but we never had the ability to do that due to space constraints," says Ron Vachris, Costco's President and CEO, in the earnings call. "We're bringing in saunas for your garage or your home. We're also performing very well." Vachris went on to highlight that Costco actually planned to have more furniture on display during atypical periods throughout the year to continue this trend. This could be sound reasoning for the company, as Insider Intelligence reports 31.5% of people who discover products on the sales floor while they're out shopping buy them right away (via Emarketer).

Big and bulky products like playground sets and large appliances don't just cost the consumer the sticker price. Usually, purchasing a larger item means spending a small fortune and precious hours hauling the product out of the store and into a home. But Costco offers options for many customers to avoid this hassle, and that convenience is showing up in its sales. 

If a Costco customer orders a big and bulky item online, that item gets delivered to their home, and the old item they're replacing can even be hauled away. This system has evidently informed the store's 2025 success, with Millerchip saying on the Q4 call, "The combination of great values and the delivery experience that includes installation and haul away of old items is resonating extremely well with members and resulted in a 13% increase in items delivered in the quarter."

Months earlier, Evercore ISI analyst Greg Melich made a similar observation during Costco's Q3 earnings call for the 2025 fiscal year, noting that customers' use of Costco Logistics, the company's delivery tracking and scheduling service, had increased by 31% (via Seeking Alpha). In response, Vachris noted between 80% and 85% of all big and bulky sales are coming through the Costco Logistics program. An in-house delivery team equipped for home installation may easily tip the scales for consumers deciding where to buy a big product, as it seems Costco's leadership is discovering.

Many companies are trying to enhance their e-commerce sales at the moment. For example, much of Target's recently announced $1 billion investment is going toward revamping its online store. Costco was a little slow to the e-commerce game, but the chain has taken technology in stride, especially going into 2026. By leaning into digital sales, online membership renewals, updated targeted advertising, and other e-commerce tactics, Costco's online sales have surged and will likely tend to keep surging.

Costco's ability to fulfill major orders for large items via their logistics arm may only continue to build steam via word of mouth. By driving customers to in-app purchases or website browsing, Costco may continue to capitalize on goodwill towards the company and its own provided value by claiming an epic online market share.

Costco is planning on expanding its investment in online logistics, as well as its physical fleet of delivery trucks. Recent changes to Costco membership mean Costco has stricter ways of allowing members into stores, but also ensure Costco has better data about shoppers and their personal history. By continuing to evolve its online interface to improve site searchability and personalizing each member's online experience, Costco can make the average consumer's order of big and bulky items as easy as clicking a button.