SeattleCostco stocks 4,000 items; the average Walmart stocks 130,000.
Deliberate scarcity, not infinite selection, is Costco’s model against Amazon’s algorithmic, data-driven marketplace — yet its revenue has grown over 10% yearly for five years.
The contrast tests whether agentic AI shopping tools deepen infinite-choice retail or push consumers back toward curation.
Sources: Hacker News