The number of shoppers allowed into a new Costco store in China at any one time is to be limited after overcrowding forced it to close its doors early on its opening day.

Costco Wholesale Corp said no more than 2,000 shoppers at any given time will be allowed into the store in a Shanghai suburb, the company’s first in China, and local police will help to improve the flow of traffic near the store.

Large crowds had flocked to the store when it opened on Tuesday, causing traffic jams in the neighbourhood. Footage captured some shoppers crawling under the shuttering as it opened its doors. 

Viral images online showed shoppers clambering to get in, jostling with others to snag roasted chickens and meat, and waiting in huge lines to check out.

“We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to our members on our warehouse opening day in Shanghai,” Costco said in a statement posted on WeChat, the Chinese social media platform.

It pledged to send text messages to members when the store was nearing capacity or if there are long waiting times.

Snaking queues and frenzied buying are not uncommon when new stores open or trendy new products hit the market in China.

Consumers lined up for hours to buy hamburgers at Shake Shack when it opened its first China store in Shanghai earlier this year, and scalpers reportedly held places in line or hawked burgers at huge mark-ups.

German supermarket chain Aldi also experienced long lines of shoppers when it opened two stores in Shanghai in June, which were also its first in China.

Local media said the Costco store in Shanghai, unlike other supermarkets which mainly sell fresh food and daily necessities, also offered products such as handbags from luxury brands Prada and Chanel as well as high-end foreign beauty products.