Lowe’s Companies Inc. relied on strong sales online and in stores to professional contractors last year to grow total sales 19.2% for the fiscal fourth quarter and 10.1%  for the fiscal year ended Feb. 3. And it’s taking steps to make its Pro sales even stronger, president, CEO and chairman Robert Niblock says.

“Pro-customer sales were robust with another quarter of comp growth well above the company average,” Niblock said on a conference call with stock analysts yesterday. “We’re proud of our success with Pro customers and continue to make investments to expand our capabilities to better serve this important customer.”

Lowe’s doesn’t break out total or business-to-business e-commerce sales, but executives said on the conference call that Q4 online sales increased 25% year over year, according to a transcript of the call from Seeking Alpha. And when they discussed Q3 results last fall, they noted that B2B sales account for 30% of total sales.

While Lowe’s said it experienced good growth in most of its product categories, it noted particularly strong growth in such categories as lumber, building materials and plumbing supplies popular with Pro as well as do-it-yourself customers.

Michael McDermott, chief customer officer, said Lowe’s—which upgraded its LowesForPros.com e-commerce site in 2015 with new features for placing, tracking and receiving orders—is taking several new steps to improve how it serves Pro customers. “We continue to evolve our capabilities to connect with a Pro across channels,” he said.

For example, Lowe’s is expanding its ProServices team of account executives and in-store specialists who, along with self-service e-commerce on LowesForPros.com, provide contractors with an omnichannel purchasing system that lets them interact with Lowe’s for product research, ordering and fulfillment with consistent service across all of these channels. McDermott added that Lowe’s has been growing sales with its larger Pro customers, “especially maintenance, repair and operations, or MRO, customers.” Businesses purchase MRO products to maintain their facilities.

For the fourth fiscal quarter ended Feb. 3, Lowe’s reported:

● Net sales of $15.78 billion, up 19.2% from $13.24 billion a year earlier;

● Gross profit of $5.432 billion, up 18.4% from $4.588 billion;

● Net earnings of $663.0 million, up from $11 million.

For the fiscal year ended Feb. 3, Lowe’s reported:

● Net sales increased 10.1% to $65.02 billion from $59.07 billion the prior fiscal year;

● Gross profit of $22.46 billion, up 9.2% from $20.57 billion;

● Net earnings of $3.093 billion, up 21.5% from $2.546 billion.

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