Costco Goes Nationwide on Uber Eats: What the Massive Delivery Expansion Means for Members
For years, the pilgrimage to Costco has been one of those distinctly American rituals — the oversized flatbed cart, the quarter-mile-long parking lot, the psychological gravitational pull of the samples station, and the near-religious commitment to buying 96 rolls of toilet paper in a single trip. But that calculus is shifting, and shifting fast. In a move that redraws the map of retail delivery in the United States, Uber and Costco have announced a sweeping expansion of their existing partnership — one that now brings Costco delivery through Uber Eats to shoppers in 47 states, nearly tripling its previous coverage.
Uber Technologies and Costco announced a major national expansion of their U.S. partnership, bringing Costco delivery through Uber Eats to millions of additional customers in 47 states, up from 17. The scope of that jump is hard to overstate: from roughly one-third of the country to virtually all of it in a single announcement. And the timing — coming in the same week that Costco also announced a separate partnership with DoorDash — signals that the warehouse giant is no longer content to sit on the sidelines of the delivery economy.
What the Deal Actually Covers
Nearly 600 Locations, Every Category
Nearly 600 Costco locations are now available on Uber Eats, bringing on-demand and scheduled delivery through the Uber Eats app to even more Costco members. That's not a curated subset of Costco's inventory — no artificial limitations on which aisles make the cut. Costco's full inventory of items — from bulk paper goods and groceries to its line of Kirkland Signature products, including the fan-favorite $5 rotisserie chicken — is available for delivery. For anyone who has ever made an emergency warehouse run for a specific Kirkland item, that breadth of availability is a genuinely meaningful upgrade.
Costco members can now get all their Costco favorites — from fresh produce and bulk groceries to household essentials and those only-at-Costco finds — delivered with Uber Eats, whether they're stocking up for the week, planning a gathering, or fulfilling a last-minute need. The dual-mode delivery structure matters here: the choice between on-demand and scheduled delivery makes the service functional for both the spontaneous Sunday dinner prep and the methodical weekly household restocking that Costco has always excelled at serving.
Three States Left Out — and Why
The only states where the service is unavailable are Rhode Island, West Virginia, and Wyoming — because Costco doesn't currently operate any warehouses there. That's not a gap in the partnership; it's a reflection of Costco's existing physical footprint. Issaquah, Washington-based Costco has 81 million members worldwide, and in the U.S., the company operates 639 stores across 47 states. The Uber Eats coverage is, effectively, coterminous with everywhere Costco already exists.
The Membership Mechanics: How It Works
Verification, Perks, and Uber One
Uber Eats shoppers will be asked to verify their Costco membership before purchasing. This isn't a workaround or a loophole — the delivery service is designed specifically for card-carrying members, preserving the exclusivity that has long been central to Costco's brand identity. Unlike many delivery platform add-ons that dilute the original retail experience, this expansion maintains the gatekeeping that Costco members actually value.
As part of the deal, some Costco members will be able to receive a discount for Uber One, the platform's paid membership program, and customers will also be able to purchase Costco memberships through the Uber Eats app. That last provision is particularly notable from a business strategy perspective — it turns the Uber Eats app into a customer acquisition channel for Costco itself, while simultaneously deepening member engagement with Uber's ecosystem. Through the partnership, Costco members receive a 20% discount on an annual Uber One membership.
Uber One members get special perks like $0 delivery fees on eligible grocery and retail orders over $60, and customers can also get 20% off their first three Costco orders of $60 or more on Uber Eats, capped at $25 off per order. For the kind of high-volume, high-ticket orders that Costco routinely generates, those savings compound quickly across a household's monthly spending.
The companies are also offering new perks tied to the expansion, including discounted Uber One memberships, discounted Uber gift cards, and a promotion for consumers who buy a Costco membership through the app. It's a web of interlocking incentives designed to keep both memberships sticky and relevant — and to make abandoning either one feel like leaving money on the table.
A Partnership With Deep Roots
From a Texas Pilot to National Scale
The relationship between Uber and Costco didn't materialize overnight. Uber and Costco first teamed up in 2021 to pilot grocery delivery in 25 locations across Texas. That original pilot was narrow by design — a stress test in a high-volume, geographically distributed market before any broader commitment was made. Texas, with its sprawling suburban landscapes and long distances between destinations, was a logical proving ground for a delivery model centered on bulk goods.
In 2024, Costco announced a formal partnership with Uber Eats, but under that agreement, Uber Eats only provided delivery in 17 states. Even at that stage, the partnership was already expanding its international footprint. Costco is available through Uber Eats in Canada, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, France, and Spain — a global deployment that gave Uber confidence in the model before committing to domestic saturation. The new announcement is, in many ways, the final piece of a puzzle that had been assembling for half a decade.
Instacart's Long Shadow
Any honest accounting of Costco's delivery history has to acknowledge Instacart's dominant position in that relationship. Costco has maintained a delivery partnership with Instacart for nearly ten years. That's a long runway of integration, data sharing, and operational fine-tuning that neither Uber Eats nor DoorDash can replicate overnight. Costco had also expanded its partnership with Instacart to include locations in Canada and prescription delivery nationwide. The depth of that arrangement extended well beyond simple grocery runs — it touched pharmacy logistics, cross-border fulfillment, and long-term member behavior data.
But the market has evolved. Consumer expectations around delivery have accelerated dramatically since 2020, and locking wholesale loyalty into a single delivery partner is now a strategic liability rather than a simplification. By opening its warehouses to multiple platforms simultaneously, Costco is hedging against dependency while dramatically increasing its total delivery addressable market.
DoorDash Joins the Party — Same Week
The Uber Eats expansion announcement didn't exist in a vacuum. Costco said it is also partnering with DoorDash to offer delivery from its U.S. warehouse stores. The timing of the two announcements in the same week was almost certainly coordinated, or at the very least strategically timed, to generate maximum media coverage for Costco's broader delivery push.
DoorDash already offered Costco delivery in a few markets, including Australia, Sweden, and Puerto Rico, but the nationwide U.S. partnership is a first for the San Francisco-based delivery company, which said Costco was among the most-searched retailers not yet on its U.S. platform. That last detail is telling — when consumers are searching a retailer on a delivery platform with enough frequency that the platform's own data flags it as a top unmet demand, the business case for a deal writes itself.
DoorDash said it will deliver groceries, household items, and electronics from all of Costco's U.S. stores, with delivery available only to Costco members, who can link their membership information to their DoorDash account. Both deals mirror each other in their basic architecture: membership verification, full inventory access, and a cross-promotional angle between the platforms' respective subscription programs.
The Competitive Landscape: Grocery Delivery's New Battlefield
Everyone Wants a Piece of the Pantry
Grocery delivery has become increasingly competitive, with names like Walmart joining the mix alongside longtime platforms like Instacart and DoorDash. The space has matured from a pandemic-era novelty into a genuine infrastructure play, one where the winners will be determined not just by speed and price but by the depth and breadth of retail relationships they can lock in. Costco — with its fanatical membership base, high average order values, and unmatched brand loyalty — is one of the most coveted relationships in that game.
Both Uber Eats and DoorDash have been expanding their grocery businesses as competition intensifies with services including Instacart and Amazon's grocery delivery operations. Amazon's grocery ambitions, in particular, represent a long-game threat that neither company can afford to ignore. Amazon has the fulfillment infrastructure, the Prime membership machine, and the data sophistication to turn grocery delivery into a loss-leader for broader consumer capture. For Uber Eats and DoorDash, inking premium retail partnerships is one of the few countermoves that can match that structural advantage.
Both DoorDash and Uber Eats also announced partnerships with Kroger, the nation's largest supermarket chain, last fall. The Costco deals follow a clear pattern: both platforms are racing to lock in the highest-traffic, highest-loyalty retail brands in America, and Costco — by almost any measure — sits at the top of that list.
Uber's Retail Strategy in Sharp Focus
For Uber specifically, the Costco expansion is part of a broader effort to position Uber Eats as something more than a food delivery app. Last year, Uber inked a deal with retailer Best Buy for on-demand delivery. Uber has also launched partnerships with grocery stores and retailers including The Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, and Save A Lot in the U.S. The accumulation of these retail partnerships reflects an intentional pivot: Uber wants to be the platform people think of not just when they're hungry, but whenever they need something delivered — from a 65-inch TV to a 40-pound bag of dog food.
The expanded partnership should strengthen Uber's grocery and retail-delivery business by adding greater selection and nearly nationwide access to a highly recognized retailer, while Costco's large membership base and strong customer loyalty could attract more users, increase order frequency, and support higher transaction volumes on Uber Eats. That's the flywheel Uber is trying to spin: more retail partners attract more consumers, more consumers attract more retail partners, and the platform becomes increasingly indispensable to daily life.
The membership discounts and fee benefits may also encourage Uber One adoption and improve customer retention, and selling Costco memberships through the app creates another customer-acquisition channel and deepens Uber's role in consumers' everyday shopping. The ability to sign up for a Costco membership inside the Uber Eats app is one of those details that sounds minor but represents a profound shift in how retail and delivery platforms are beginning to blur their boundaries.
Costco's Financial Momentum Makes This the Right Moment
The delivery expansion doesn't exist in isolation from Costco's broader financial picture. The company posted net sales of $23.7 billion in August, up 9.9% year over year from $21.56 billion, and for the full 52-week fiscal year ended August 30, net sales reached $297.3 billion, up 10.2% from $269.9 billion in fiscal 2025. Those are the numbers of a retailer firing on all cylinders — and one with considerable leverage when structuring delivery partnerships on its own terms.
Comparable sales for the fiscal year rose 8.4% companywide, with digitally enabled sales — a category that includes online and app-based orders — up 20.9%. That 20.9% surge in digital sales tells you exactly why Costco is moving aggressively on delivery right now. The consumer behavior data is unambiguous: members want to buy Costco goods digitally, and the faster Costco can capture that demand through owned and partner channels, the harder it becomes for Amazon or any other competitor to steal that spend.
Costco fans also have new brick-and-mortar locations to look forward to, as the retailer is set to open 10 new stores in nine states this fall, with aims to open more than 30 new stores annually in the coming years. Each new warehouse is a new node in the Uber Eats and DoorDash delivery networks — a compounding effect that makes the current partnerships more valuable with every ribbon-cutting ceremony.
What This Means for the Costco Member in 2026
Real-World Utility, Not Just a Gimmick
The practical implications for Costco members are significant. Orders can be tracked in real time through the app — a functionality that transforms the experience of ordering a $300 cart's worth of groceries into something as casual and frictionless as ordering lunch. The on-demand option means that a forgotten ingredient for a Saturday cookout can be remedied without a forty-minute round trip, while the scheduled delivery option slots comfortably into the rhythms of a household that already thinks in bulk quantities and weekly meal plans.
The ability to order every category Costco carries — not a restaurant-menu-style abbreviated list, but the full warehouse catalog — is what separates this partnership from many of the half-measures that have characterized retail delivery integrations in the past. All Costco items will be available for delivery on Uber Eats, an Uber spokesperson confirmed. That means the rotisserie chicken, the 48-pack of sparkling water, the patio furniture, the electronics, and the pharmacy items can all theoretically land on a doorstep through the same app.
The Kirkland Factor
It is impossible to discuss any Costco delivery expansion without addressing Kirkland Signature — the private-label juggernaut that has become one of the most trusted brands in American retail. Kirkland products generate enormous loyalty precisely because they're only available through Costco. The delivery expansion doesn't change that exclusivity; it amplifies it. Members who might have previously skipped a warehouse trip and defaulted to a name-brand alternative at a regular grocery store now have an easy on-ramp to stay within the Kirkland ecosystem. That's a retention mechanism that benefits Costco far more than any coupon campaign.
Andrew Macdonald and the Uber Vision
Uber's President and COO, Andrew Macdonald, made no effort to understate the significance of the deal. "We are thrilled to expand our partnership with Costco nationwide, giving Costco members more ways to shop and bringing the brand's storied selection and value to more consumers," Macdonald said. He also framed the deal in explicitly strategic terms: "Costco is one of the largest and most trusted retailers in the country for good reason, and our nationwide partnership demonstrates the scale and opportunity Uber can bring to retailers looking to meet more of consumers' everyday shopping needs." The subtext is clear — Uber is pitching itself to every major retailer in America as the infrastructure partner that can deliver true national scale.
Macdonald's public comments on the announcement — including a personal post on social media calling it a deal of "great personal meaning" — suggest this wasn't just a routine business development win for Uber. It represents the company's clearest statement yet that its long-term ambitions in grocery and retail delivery are as serious as its ride-sharing roots.
The Bigger Picture: Retail's Delivery Reckoning
The simultaneous Uber Eats and DoorDash expansions into Costco's warehouse network mark an inflection point in how America's largest retailers think about delivery. For a long time, Costco resisted the pressure to commoditize its shopping experience through third-party logistics. The warehouse trip was part of the value proposition — the experience of discovery, the sense of abundance, the social ritual of the sample tables. Delivery, by contrast, reduces Costco to a fulfillment node.
But consumer behavior has a way of eroding institutional resistance, and the data — both Costco's own digital sales figures and the platform-side search data that DoorDash cited — makes clear that members want both options available to them. The retailer has maintained a delivery arrangement with Instacart spanning close to ten years, and with DoorDash now entering the picture and Uber Eats achieving complete national coverage, members now enjoy enhanced flexibility for remote shopping. The warehouse trip isn't going anywhere; the cavernous aisles and the $1.50 hot dog will remain a cultural institution. But for the Tuesday afternoon when the Kirkland olive oil runs out and the next warehouse trip isn't until Saturday, the Uber Eats option is now a nationwide reality for the first time.
The real winners in this arrangement may ultimately be the consumers — particularly Costco members who have long subsidized a membership primarily for in-store savings and are now receiving substantially more for that annual fee. Three major delivery platforms, full inventory access, member-exclusive pricing, and cross-platform subscription discounts represent a value stack that would have seemed implausible even five years ago. The age of having everything Costco sells arrive at your door, without navigating the parking lot, is now officially and nationally open for business.
