Ecommerce sales increased nearly 200% year over year in Dick’s Sporting Goods’ fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 1. Plus, the sporting goods retail chain said online sales accounted for about 30% of total net sales in its Q2 compared with about 12% in its fiscal Q2 2019.
Overall, Dick’s reported its highest-ever quarterly sales at $2.71 billion, a 20.1% year-over-year increase. Same-store sales increased 20.7% year over year, even with roughly 15% of its stores closed during the quarter, the retailer reported. This is compared with its Q2 2019, when same-store sales increased 3.2%. As of June, all of its stores are now open.
Dick’s Sporting Goods credits its strong sales to consumers shifting to a more athletic and active lifestyle as they spend more time working and exercising at home. Much of its online sales growth stems from its omnichannel services, Dick’s says, including its recently launched curbside service. In fact, stores fulfilled more than 75% of Dick’s Sporting Goods’ Q2 online sales, which includes curbside pickup, buy online, pick up in store and ship from store.
“We continue to see our stores as our hub, and they are critical to our success,” Joe Pietropola, senior vice president of ecommerce tells Digital Commerce 360. “Our physical stores are an unparalleled distribution footprint for online fulfillment.” Dick’s ended its fiscal Q2 with 852 stores and roughly all of them offer curbside pickup.
For example, stores are often physically closer to shoppers than a warehouse and can offer faster ship-to-home delivery. Additionally, shoppers can receive online orders the same day if they choose in-store pickup, the retailer says. Its ecommerce orders typically arrive at a shopper’s home about two to four days after she orders, Pietropola says.
“We’re proud that during the last two quarters when our ecommerce sales were at unprecedented levels, we were able to improve shipping times to our customers,” Pietropola says.
Like many retailers, however, Dick’s prefers when shoppers come into their stores as store visits drive more sales.
“Our stores also significantly increase awareness of our product offerings and subsequently, increase ecommerce sales because our customers who visit the stores understand the breadth of our offerings and the quality of our merchandise,” Pietropola says.
Dick’s launched curbside pickup in less than 48 hours, the retailer tells Digital Commerce 360, and made the service available to shoppers on March 18. Curbside pickup uses the same technology and employees as buy online, pick up in store, as both require store-level inventory visibility and employees to pick and stage the orders. What is new for curbside pickup revolves around customer communication. For example, with curbside, Dick’s must explain to shoppers how to pick up an order and how to alert the retailer via text or email that they have arrived.
“While it may not have been perfect at launch, we worked continually with our teams to quickly identify and resolve issues and improve the process and make it smooth and easy for our customers to get what they needed quickly and safely,” the retailers says without revealing more.
Because Dick’s could use its existing technology and internal employees, “there were minimal fees involved in launching the program,” Pietropola says. He adds that curbside pickup accounted for more than 40% of ecommerce sales from March 18-May 4, and within that period curbside pickup sales were up 1,000% higher compared with BOPIS sales in the same period a year ago.
In terms of profit for its Q2, Dick’s told investors that it had fewer promotions, which helped its profit margin, according to a SeekingAlpha transcript. However, this was offset by increased shipping and fulfillment expenses because of its strong ecommerce sales, the retailer reported.
But curbside and buy online pick up in store helped to improve profit, Pietropola tells Digital Commerce 360.
“Curbside and BOPIS eliminates both shipping and packaging expenses, helping to improve the overall profitability of our ecommerce business,” he says. The retailer plans to continue offering curbside pickup, and believes it will be an important service during the holidays.
For the fiscal second quarter ended Aug. 1, Dick’s reported:
- Net sales of $2.71 billion, up 20.1% from $2.26 billion in its fiscal Q2 2019.
- Net income of $276.8 million, compared with $112.5 million.
- Mobile sales accounted for 50% of ecommerce sales.
For the first six months ended Aug. 1, Dick’s reported:
- Ecommerce sales increased 154% for the first six months ended Aug. 1 and represented 33% of net sales compared with 12% in the year-ago period.
- Net sales of $4.05 billion, a 3.1% decrease from $4.18 billion.
- Net income of $133.4 million compared with $170.1 million.
Dick’s is No. 44 in the 2020 Digital Commerce 360 Top 500.
Percentage changes may not align exactly with dollar figures due to rounding.
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