8 Things Walmart Does Better Than Costco Every Time

There's a lot of hype around Costco — it's a popular grocery store, thanks to its bulk products, competitive prices, and stores that make shopping feel like going on a treasure hunt. At the same time, Walmart doesn't necessarily have the best reputation of any store around, owing largely to how it pays its workers abysmally low wages (among a variety of other reasons), but it's still considered a hub by many for low prices and a huge amount of variety. But despite the popular perception of these two brands, there are still some things that Walmart does better than Costco. While you can choose to shop there or not, there's no denying that there are a few arenas in which Walmart one-ups the big box membership brand.

We're taking a closer look at the points where Walmart excels ... and when Costco falls short. If you're a shopper at both, you might recognize some of these same differences between the stores when you shop there. And if you're only shopping at Costco these days, you might discover that there are instances in which it might make more sense to shop at Walmart instead.

Grocery prices are on the rise, and so are prices of just about anything else. This means that more and more consumers are looking for good deals these days. In different ways, both Costco and Walmart deliver on those low prices. If you're truly looking to spend as little as possible on your grocery bill on a regular basis, then Costco is the place to be, since a Consumer Reports study found that it had the lowest average prices. However, you're getting those competitive prices at Costco because you're buying in bulk. This means that while you may save money on a product over the course of its lifetime, you have to pay for a large amount of it upfront. This can lead to huge totals in the Costco checkout line.

On the other hand, if you don't have a lot of cash in your bank upfront, you may not want to pay those exorbitant costs at Costco, even if you know the food is going to go further in the long run. Sometimes, you just need to grab ingredients for an affordable meal on limited funds, and in that case, Walmart is probably a better place to shop. Walmart also offers notoriously low prices, and you can buy items in much smaller quantities. That way, you're not spending quite so much at the checkout.

There's so much we love about bulk shopping — not having to worry about buying paper towels on a weekly basis, having a freezer stocked full of all of our favorite convenient foods, and knowing the big bag of rice we just bought is going to last months on end. But there are some real downsides to bulk shopping, too. First of all, if you live in a smaller household as a single person, a couple, or a parent and a child, then there's a good chance you're not going to be able to make it through the huge portion sizes Costco offers before the food in question starts to go bad. Shopping at Walmart, on the other hand, lets you choose smaller portion sizes so you don't have to worry about freezing all of the extra ingredients that you bought in bulk.

Walmart can also be a better shopping option for those who live in smaller apartments. As much as you might want to bulk-buy cans of diced tomatoes, it doesn't make a lot of sense to do so if you have limited pantry space. Since Walmart doesn't force you to bulk buy, you can get just enough groceries to last you until your next shopping trip.

Have you ever discovered a Costco product that you love, only to realize that it's off the shelves the next time you go back? There's even a symbol known as the Costco Death Star, which is an asterisk placed on the sign for a product when it's supposedly about to be axed from the store's lineup. Having new products coming in all the time makes for a fun shopping experience since you never know what you're going to find on your next trip, but it's also bothersome if you're trying to re-buy your old favorites over and over again.

Meanwhile, at Walmart, the inventory is kept more consistent. That doesn't mean products don't come and go, but generally, you're going to be able to find most of the same stuff whenever you go. There are also just more different products to choose from at Walmart, period. While Costco only carries about 3,500 to 4,000 SKUs at a time, Walmart boasts about 140,000 SKUs at an average store. This extra variety is a selling point for people who are looking for one store where they can get basically everything, from groceries to clothes to homewares and beyond.

When you're thinking about where you're going to go grocery shopping, you have to look at what's available in your local area before you even think about your preferences. For a lot of people, there isn't a Costco anywhere close enough for them to reasonably shop at, even if they might want to. This is because Costco has significantly fewer stores than Walmart. That doesn't mean that Costco has a tiny footprint, of course — it still boasts over 800 stores worldwide. But that number is completely dwarfed by Walmart, which operates over 10,800 stores around the world.

Ultimately, this just means that on average, it's going to be a lot easier to find a Walmart in your area than a Costco. That's especially true if you live in a more rural area. Costco doesn't even consider opening a store in a location that doesn't have a large enough population — it just doesn't make sense for them to cater to such a small community. On the other hand, Walmart is literally known for building stores in rural communities. In some especially small towns, it can be the only or one of the only grocery stores and pharmacies in town.

We can't forget perhaps the most obvious way in which Walmart is better than Costco: It doesn't require you to get a membership to shop there. While you may not have to get a Costco membership to buy absolutely everything at the store — non-members can technically buy liquor in 14 states — you have to invest in that membership for the vast majority of products at the big box store. For a standard Costco membership, you'll pay $65. For a lot of shoppers, this upfront cost is absolutely worth it because they know they're going to get significant savings in the long run. But it's not totally wrong to balk at the idea of being charged just for the privilege of buying something from a store.

Walmart, on the other hand, does not run on a membership model. You can take advantage of the savings the store offers, whether you buy a $1 item there once a year or you do your weekly grocery shopping at the store. That being said, Walmart does offer an optional membership called Walmart+ that comes with a variety of benefits, perhaps the most notable including free delivery and free shipping. This membership costs $98 a year or $12.95 monthly. For those who are looking for basic savings with no commitment, though, skipping the idea of a membership entirely is the way to go.

Some shoppers prefer to actually go into the store they're shopping at so they have a better sense of what's on offer or simply because they like getting out of the house. But others may not have much time for shopping, or they might not enjoy it when they do. This is when store delivery can really come in handy. While you can technically get your groceries delivered from both stores, Walmart's delivery system is a bit more streamlined.

Walmart charges a delivery fee of $7.95 to $9.95 depending on the order, although Walmart+ members get free delivery on orders over $35. This makes it easy to simply tack on that delivery fee to your total order price to get a good idea of how much you'll be paying. But at Costco, delivery is a bit more complicated. Costco's delivery system is through Instacart, a grocery delivery service that in our experience can sometimes be tricky. Costco also has a $35 minimum on delivery orders.

But the real win for Walmart here is the fact that the prices are the same whether you order online and get your groceries delivered. At Costco, that's not the case — the store marks up some of its products, potentially making delivery a lot more expensive than shopping in-store.

Costco and Walmart are stores that arguably have more brick-and-mortar appeal than most. But these days, a lot of people prefer online shopping to actually going out to a store, considering that it can be much more convenient. Customers who do prefer to shop this way will probably discover that Walmart offers the better online shopping experience of the two. In a poll, consumers relayed that the former offered the best online shopping experience, with the latter trailing far behind.

So, what makes Walmart's online shopping experience so great? Well, all the benefits of the Walmart+ membership program play a role, but so does the fact that Walmart just offers so many products online — it carries about 420 million different items. There's also the fact that there are just so many Walmarts across the country that it makes delivery quick, easy, and painless for customers. When it comes to online shopping, Walmart beats Costco every time.

Some people do most of their grocery shopping on the weekends, while others go right after they get off of their nine-to-five job. But for those with different schedules — and for night owls in general — shopping can sometimes be a late-night activity. Whether you want to go grab some snacks at 10 p.m. or you get off work in the middle of the night and need to grab a bite to eat, it's always nice having access to a store that's open late. If that's what you're looking for, Costco's hours aren't the best. The big box store is open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Back in the day, there used to be many Walmarts that were open 24 hours a day. Unfortunately, though, that practice ended with the pandemic, and it's yet to make a return. If you've ever enjoyed a late-night Walmart trip, you know what a loss that is. However, Walmart stores are still usually open later than Costco, with many stores opening at 6 a.m. and closing at 10 or 11 p.m.