How does Texas' favorite grocery store compare to Costco?
Costco V H-E-B- it's a choice that many Texan shoppers make.
Financial experts The Ascent recently compared the two grocery chains to see who was cheaper and who offered more to consumers.
Let's take a look at the results.
Costco
To shop at Costco, you need to purchase an annual membership. With a membership, you can access bulk items at close to wholesale prices. This leads to Costco having lower prices per unit compared to HEB.
Stores: There are 37 Costco stores in Texas.
Products: Costco carries about 4,000 different SKUs (stock-keeping units).
Branded card: Costco has the Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi, offering cardholders the opportunity to earn Costco cash rewards and receive 4% rewards on eligible gas, 3% on restaurants and eligible travel, 2% on all other purchases from Costco and Costco.com, and 1% for all other purchases.
H-E-B
Stores: There are 325 H-E-B stores in Texas
Products: H-E-B has over 30,000 different SKUs (stock-keeping units).
Branded card: HEB recently launched the H-E-B Visa Signature Credit Card, offering customers 5% cash back on products in the H-E-B family of brands and 1.5% cash back on all other purchases.
Price
The Ascent offered a snapshot of six products as a comparison. This is a very limited look at products, but it shows a trend.
Product Costco. H-E-B
Bananas. $0.46 / lb. $0.53 / lb
Kellogg's Frosted Flakes. $0.17 / oz. $0.19 / oz
Coke 12 oz Cans. $0.05 / oz. $0.05 / oz
Jack Link's Beef Sticks. $0.82 / CT. $1.12 / CT
Oreo Cakester. $0.38 / oz. $0.42 / oz
Bacon. $3.70 / lb. $6.88 / lb
Consumer favorites
Earlier this year, H-E-B was named the top grocer in the United States. Dunnhumby, a global consumer research company, released its annual Retailer Preference Index to list the top-performing grocers nationally. This is based on grocery customer surveys and financial reports and looks at price, promotions, rewards, quality, speed, convenience, digital, and operations.
H-E-B ranked first ahead of Costco, with Amazon dropping to third after two years in the top position.
Ultimately H-E-B has far more locations and a more comprehensive range of products, while Costco can offer significant savings on some products.
Which do you prefer?
Your thoughts.
Do you prefer H-E-B or Costco? Or do you have another grocer as your favorite?
Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below and share this article with others so more people can join the discussion.
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