Sales to professional contractors are outpacing sales to do-it-yourself retail customers, as web sales outpace total sales, Home Depot says.

The Home Depot Inc. reported a strong fiscal second quarter in total and particularly online sales, and much of the growth was due to stronger sales from professional contractors compared to a year ago.

Chief financial officer Carol Tome, recalling that Home Depot’s professional or “Pro” customers appeared to all be “out on vacation” in Q2 of last year, said this year is quite different. “Based on what we’re seeing in the stores today, our Pros are not on vacation,” she said on a conference call with stock analysts yesterday, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. The company’s fiscal second quarter ended July 30.

The company didn’t break out Pro sales for the quarter, but said they grew faster than sales to do-it-yourself, or DIY, retail customers, without providing more specifics on growth rates. The company has said Pro sales in 2016 accounted for 45% of sales. At that rate Q2 Pro sales would amount to $12.65 billion.

And helping to drive up store sales, added Craig Menear, president, chairman and CEO, was Home Depot’s ongoing improvement in the way it ties in-store shopping to HomeDepot.com and its mobile commerce operations. Online sales grew about 23% year over year in the quarter, to about $1.80 billion, accounting for 6.4% of total sales of $28.108 billion, he said.

“We have an interconnected retail approach, and our customers are blending the physical and the digital world together,” Menear said, adding: “Our digital team continues to invest in content, site improvements and better mobile experiences to take the friction out of the interconnected experience online … and remains focused on improving the interconnected experience in store.”

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“Over 43% of our online transactions are picked up inside of a store,” added Tome. “This is one Home Depot. Not an online or in-store business, but it’s one Home Depot.”

Mark Holifield, executive vice president, supply chain and product development, noted that, as of the end of last year, Home Depot now offers delivery to Pro as well as DIY customers within two hours from all of the chain’s more than 2,800 stores.

Home Depot is No. 87 in the B2B E-Commerce 300 and No. 7 in Internet Retailer Top 500.

For fiscal second quarter ended July 30, Home Depot reported:

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  • Online sales of about $1.80 billion, up 23% from about $1.46 billion a year earlier;
  • Total net sales of $28.108 billion, up 6.2% from $26.472 billion;
  • Comp store sales in the U.S. increased 6.6%;
  • Gross profit of $9.461 billion, up 6.0% from $8.927 billion;
  • Net earnings of $2.672 billion, up 9.5% from $2.441 billion.

For the six months ended July 30, Home Depot reported:

  • Total net sales of $51.995 billion, up 5.6% from $49.234 billion;
  • Gross profit of $17.615 billion, up 5.4% from $16.718 billion;
  • Net earnings of $4.686 billion, up 10.4% $4.244 billion.

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