Last year, Costco announced the end of its longtime exclusive relationship with American Express. The end of the deal wasn’t as great for AmEx, since the captive audience was good for its business, and shareholders were unhappy. As the official breakup date approaches in June, AmEx is looking for a new bulk-selling credit card buddy, and has perhaps found one in Boxed.

Not to be confused with Plated, Boxed does have some things in common with Costco. It sells items, especially household staples, in bulk. It only sells a tightly curated selection of merchandise, about 1,000 items. The main difference is that Boxed sells online, instead of having warehouse stores in every metropolitan area except mine. Orders average $100, and they aim to become a virtual bulk warehouse for millennials.

The M-word is the real reason why AmEx is interested in partnering with Boxed: Bloomberg explains that there’s an entire new generation of shoppers who they can entice to sign up for AmEx cards. “They see Boxed like they saw Costco 20 years ago,” explains Boxed CEO Chieh Huang, who literally started the business in his garage a few years ago.

The partnership isn’t exclusive, but AmEx users will be able to get special rewards and promotional samples, similar to those that users of the Costco AmEx get now.

AmEx Teams Up With Online Costco Killer in Play for Millennials [Bloomberg]

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