Discussion Globalization and Collaboration

Assignment 2

I select Costco Wholesale Corporation from fortune 500 list. Costco Wholesale is an American multinational corporation which is ranked 15th on the Fortune 500 rankings of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Costco Wholesale was the second largest retailer in the world compare to Walmart. Costco opened its first warehouse in 1983 in Seattle by James Sinegal and Jeffrey H. Brotman. Costco Wholesale is a multi-billion-dollar global retailer with warehouse club and famous for its exclusive "members only" model. Unlike other stores, Costco makes most of its money not from selling products but from membership fees.

Costco entered the Asian market as early as the 1990s. Currently, it has opened 12 in Taiwan, 25 in Japan, and 12 in South Korea then why has it only begun to expand into the mainland market in the past two years? Costco announced plans to use Alibaba group to open an online store in China as early as 2014, but did not build its first warehouse in China until March 2019. There may be several reasons: First, as Costco's global sales increase, profits and member revenues increase year by year. Companies are actively seeking international expansion. Second, with the upgrading of consumption, China's current demand for quality products is increasing. Through early cooperation with Alibaba, Costco is optimistic about the Chinese market and open the first warehouse in Shanghai this year.