Those with a watchful eye and a social media presence may notice there’s been a consistent yet unassuming character in their feeds: Costco.

A Costco waffle-cone cake, for example, is turning heads across digital channels. The sponge cake, meant to replicate the waffle-cone ice cream flavor, with chocolate and caramel swirls and mini ice cream cones on top, is the star of numerous online videos.

In one viral video, viewers get a preview of the dessert that has begun hitting shelves at some Costco stores across the country and hear the influencer gushing over the cake as the “most incredible thing” she’s ever seen. The video earned the influencer over 30,000 likes, hundreds of comments and several headlines.

The growing social media presence signals the Issaquah-based membership club’s appeal to younger generations.

For decades, Costco has been a destination for older, financially stable shoppers, and still is. Baby boomers and Gen X made up the majority of its customer base at the end of 2025, according to Numerator, a market and tech research company. But membership among younger age groups, especially millennials, is growing.

A January 2026 report from Mizuho Financial Group, a research firm that monitors Costco, found more than half of Costco’s new membership growth is coming from consumers under 40 years old.

‘Organic viral thing’

It is hard to pinpoint how much of Costco’s popularity among influencers and across social media is organic. But the brand doesn’t pay influencers, according to David Bellinger, a director and senior analyst at Mizuho who has published company reports on Costco.

Costco spends very minimally on marketing, but the company has made its support for these influencers exceptionally clear, Bellinger said. Costco features many of them on its Instagram, and a May article in its member publication praised influencers’ efforts to “champion the warehouse.”

“You’re seeing the waffle cone, but it’s not like Costco shelled out any advertising money for you to see that,” Bellinger said. “It’s more of an organic viral thing.”

Costco didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Still, Costco itself appears to be expanding its social media presence, capitalizing on trends, many of which feature its food offerings. In March, Costco CEO Ron Vachris jumped on the viral trend of executives trying their company’s food on camera.

Costco’s new menu offerings, such as its caloric chicken strips and a popular pretzel bagel, also seem to be attracting digital-first audiences as they gain attention on sites like Instagram and X.

These efforts appear to be part of a larger strategy to boost sales and improve Costco’s customer lifetime value, or retention, by bringing younger audiences into the fold.

There’s a digital shift coming for the big-box store, Bellinger said. Groupon, Instacart and digital-first interfaces like the Costco app are all growing in popularity among consumers, he said.

“They definitely move a certain subset of products to facilitate younger customers,” he said. “I see a lot of good beauty products in there.”

Of all the products Costco promotes in an effort to remain trendy, its private-label offerings from the Kirkland Signature brand are especially prominent.

A June 2026 report from McKinsey & Company, a leading global management consulting firm, highlights that retail grocers are innovating in response to trends by expanding those private-label offerings. Kirkland Signature has been successful for the company in the past and continues to improve year over year.

Kirkland is a $90 billion annual revenue brand, accounting for more than 30% of Costco’s merchandise sales, according to Bellinger. He noted that the lower price point of Kirkland products compared with name-brand items is a draw for many customers experiencing financial strain.

As food costs continue to rise, the value of groceries has become more important to consumers than ever before, according to the McKinsey report. It also emphasizes that consumer loyalty is a growing economic engine — something that Bellinger says the Costco brand knows well and leans into.

However Costco’s future marketing plans pan out, it’s clear the company is well on its way to extending its brand loyalty to the next generation.

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