The battle of who is who in terms of offering the best prices to customers does not get any better than between Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). In an interview with CNBC’s David Faber, the former Costco’s CEO Jim Sinegal kept a respectful wary eye on Amazon in terms of products and prices that the online store offers and why he thinks Costco offers some of the best deals.
Mr. Sinegal could not fail to recognize the determination and guts that Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) co-founder Jeff Bezos has shown ever since the Dot com period collapse where most people were skeptical, guiding the store to become a giant a household name. Mr. Sinegal remains surprised on how Amazon has grown.
“It has been a surprise and probably I am not the only one who has been surprised by it”
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) operate an almost similar membership program. Mr. Sinegal believes that Amazon might have copied its membership program ‘Prime,’ as a result, of the level of success that the program had been able to achieve. The former CEO was also quick to indicate that Costco would also do the same in tapping any good idea spotted outside as long as it is able to guarantee success.
“Trust me, if we see some good ideas someplace we are not inhibited from stealing it, we would rush out there as quickly as we can to take good ideas”
Prices continue to be an important appeal to many customers, as a result, of the slowing economy but a debatable topic in terms of who is offering the best deals between the two stores. Mr. Sinegal is of the opinion that Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) is offering better prices than Amazon, but was not up to the task in explaining why their earnings were not as good as those of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN).
Mr. Sinegal acknowledges Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN)’s infrastructure, which in some way might be stronger than Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ:COST) thus the reason why Amazon is considered a giant online retail store habit.
Disclosure: none
