Costco grows its annual online sales 48% to $560 million in FY 2005

Costco.com closed out another year of record web sales. For its just closed 2005 fiscal year, Costco.com, No. 27 in the Internet Retailer Top 400 Guide to Retail Web Sites, had total Internet sales of $560 million, up 48% from web sales of $377 million in fiscal 2004, says chief financial officer Richard Galanti.

In fiscal 2006, e-commerce sales are expected to be $750 million, an expected increase of 34%, Galanti says. “2005 was a good year and the web grew faster than we expected,” he says.

The web accounted for 1% of total sales of $51.8 billion in FY 2005, the same as a year earlier, when total sales reached $47.1 billion.

“The web is a good extension of the Costco brand,” Galanti says.