But U.S. store sales account for about 90% of total first quarter sales, and the web still brings in less than 4% of total sales, CEO Bill Rhodes says.

Online sales were up 3.8% in the first quarter for AutoZone Inc., but represented only 2.3% of total sales, which grew 5.8% to $2.29 billion. The potential for more online sales growth is there, president and CEO Bill Rhodes told analysts on the company’s Q1 earnings call Tuesday. Stores, however, are where the action is for now.

“While we currently have approximately 90% of our total company sales coming from our domestic AutoZone stores, we believe we have great growth opportunities with both electronic commerce and store openings outside the U.S. for many years to come,” Rhodes told analysts.

AutoZone’s web sales accounted for 2.1% in fiscal 2012, 3.2% in fiscal 2013, and 3.6% in fiscal 2014 and 2015. “Online sales growth opportunities exist both in business-to-business and business-to-consumer markets,” Rhodes told analysts. The company did not break out B2B online sales. He also said AutoZone has been working to improve its mobile app but did not provide details.

For the past two years AutoZone has rolled out more frequent deliveries to domestic stores and mega hubs, larger stores that also serve commercial customers such as repair shops, with some moving from once a week to three to five times a week, Rhodes said.

For the first quarter of fiscal 2016 ended Nov. 21, AutoZone, No. 107 in the the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, reported:

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  • Online sales of $81.7 million, up 3.8% from $78.7 million in the same quarter last year. AutoZone’s online sales include all sales from AutoZone.com, AllData.com, which sells diagnostic and related repair work software, and AutoAnything.com, an online auto parts retailer it acquired in 2012.
  • Commercial sales of $433.3 million, up 10% from $394.0 million.
  • Total sales of $2.39 billion, up 5.8% from $2.26 billion.
  • Domestic comparable-store sales increased 3.5%.
  • Net income of $258.1 million compared with net income of $238.3 million in the same period last year.
  • E-commerce represented 3.4% of total sales for Q1, compared with 3.5% in the first quarter of fiscal 2015.
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