Grocery, pharmacy, and health and beauty all played roles in Costco’s solid fourth quarter in 2024, but the real star continues to be non-food.

Comparable sales in the U.S. were up 5.3% year over year in Q4 while ecommerce increased 18.9%.

Net sales were $78.2 billion, up 1% versus the 17-week fourth quarter a year ago, while net income came in at just over $2.3 billion. For the 52-week fiscal year, the Issaquah, Wash.-based retailer reported net sales of $249.6 billion, a boost of 5.0% year over year.

Costco’s stock price ended the day of trading down 6.98% on Thursday.

“I would say overall we feel very good about our momentum ending fiscal year ’24 and as we head into the new fiscal year, we feel very good about the opportunity ahead of us,” Costco Executive Vice President and CFO Gary Millerchip during the earnings call.

Non-food had the highest comparable sales in Q4, with Costco’s fresh department posting single-digit year-over-year growth. An expanded and elevated health and beauty category also performed well while pharmacy had double-digit growth.

Providing the grocery category with some boost over the last 16 weeks was Kirkland Signature boneless chicken tenderloins where the price was lowered 13% and the major contributor of a 21% lift in pounds sold in the food and sundries category, according to Millerchip.

Ethnic food also helped in the grocery sector as Costco introduced more international products like paneer cheese and fried tofu kimbap, as did Kirkland Signature’s golden maple syrup and aerosol whipped cream.

“Kirkland Signature offers significant member value compared to the national brands and continues to grow at a faster pace than our business as a whole,” Millerchip said during the call.

Millerchip also said inflation continues to subside and was flat overall for the warehouse retailer, but there was a slight increase in fresh produce. Traffic and shopping frequency increased 5.6% year over year in Q4. The average ticket less fuel was up 0.6% domestically.

Costco initiated its first membership fee increase in seven years on Sept. 1, revenue that did not count toward Q4. The basic membership fee went up $5 to $65 a year and Costco’s Executive Membership increased $10 to $130 annually. Costco brought in over $1.5 billion in membership dues in the fourth quarter, and Millerchip said the increase will be felt in the back end of fiscal year 2025.

Millerchip said about half of the new membership signups during fiscal year 2024 have come from people under the age of 40.

“The percentage has been growing since COVID and has lowered the average age of our member over the last few years,” Millerchip said.

Costco began rolling out card scanners at the entrance of warehouses, and about 350 locations now have the technology. The retailer is seeing a lift in membership signups and renewals due to the scanners. Costco CEO Ron Vachris said the tech gives operators real-time traffic counts throughout the day and associates can monitor fresh foods more effectively because they know the traffic counts.

“It also has taken the friction of membership verification away from the front-end registers and moved that to the front door where we’re able to look at people’s membership status,” Vachris said.