17726. CUSTOMER RELATIONS MANAGEMENT (CRM) AT COSTCO WHOLESALE. This paper examines customer relations management at Costco, the nation’s largest and most successful membership warehouse club. Following an overview and discussion of the warehouse club industry and its environment, the components of Costco’s CRM and its links to Costco’s overall business model are described and discussed. The analysis considers how Costco’s CRM strategy generates sustainable competitive advantage. Costco’s successful CRM is compared and contrasted with the CRM of key competitor Sam’s Club (a business segment of Wal-Mart). A concluding section makes recommendations on how Costco can further leverage its already highly successful CRM approach. KEYWORDS: customer relations management crm warehouse clubs costco sustainable competitive advantage. Written 2006. APA Style. 9 pages, 46 footnotes, 30 bibliographic sources. 2,060 words.