Costco Rotisserie Chicken Will Always Be $4.99 and Here’s Why
Near the top of the list of awesome grocery store items resides rotisserie chicken from beloved bulk retailer Costco. You can eat them as is or piece them out for meals throughout the week. Even if you’re not sure how you’re going to use it, one should go in your grocery cart because a need will arise sooner than you think. And at $4.99, the rotisserie chickens are actually cheaper to purchase than the uncooked ones at Costco.
If you love these chickens, then I have good news for you: CNN Money recently reported that Costco doesn’t have any plans to change the price of their rotisserie chickens even though they are operating at a loss. In fact, Costco said it’s willing to eat upwards to $40 million a year to keep these rotisserie chicken prices so low.
These roasty-toasty birds are officially labeled as a loss-leader for the company. That’s right, the food giant is actually losing money on every bird they sell. Sure, they could raise prices — even a dollar — so they at least break even, but Costco knows what keeps customers coming back. Cheap hot dogs, free soda, $4.99 rotisserie chicken, and the world’s largest bag of toilet paper.
This philosophy helps their other responsibly priced items sell faster. If you stop in for a rotisserie chicken, you might also pick up some other things while you’re there — some orange juice, vitamins, etc. So while it might appear that Costco is losing money while keeping prices low, it actually helps them in the long run.
Put a Rotisserie Chicken to Use
Have you ever tried Costco’s rotisserie chicken?