Ecommerce earnings recap: Abercrombie, Gap, Kroger

More retailers in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 list of leading ecommerce retailers in North America reported ecommerce earnings results for the most recent fiscal quarter. Retailers in the apparel and grocery industries reported strong results. Here’s the ecommerce earnings summary you need to know from this quarter. Read more ecommerce earnings coverage here.

Parentheses indicate the merchant’s ranking in the Top 1000.

Abercrombie & Fitch Co. (No. 59)

Abercrombie said net sales in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, 2024, grew 21% to $1.5 billion, led by a 35% increase in Abercrombie-brand net sales. The apparel retailer also reported a 16% increase in net sales for the full year, to $4.3 billion. About 45% of total Abercrombie sales are made online, the retailer said. For the Abercrombie brand, online sales make up 60% of the total because the typical millennial consumer prefers to shop that way, CEO Fran Horowitz said. About 30% of Hollister sales are online, because its teen customers prefer to visit stores, she said.

Amazon.com Inc. (No. 1)

Amazon beat expectations with earnings for its fiscal fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023. Its net sales in the quarter grew 14% year over year to $170.0 billion.

Full-year sales grew 12% to $574.8 billion in 2023, up from $514.0 billion in 2022. Read more about Amazon’s earnings here.

American Eagle Outfitters Inc. (No. 54)

American Eagle net revenue grew 12% to $1.7 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3, the retailer said. Aerie-brand net revenue alone grew 16% to $538 million. Total digital revenue grew 19% in the quarter, compared to 10% revenue growth at physical stores. Net revenue for all brands grew 5% to $5.3 billion in 2023. Store and digital revenue each grew 6% in 2023. Online sales made up 34% of revenue for the year, chief financial officer Mike Mathias said.

Arhaus Inc. (No. 373)

Arhaus reported net sales declined 3.5% to $344 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. Meanwhile, 2023 net sales grew 4.8% to $1.3 billion. Annual growth was driven by increased demand both in stores and online, the furniture retailer said. Ecommerce revenue grew 17% in 2023, while showroom revenue grew 2%.

Big Lots (No. 254)

Big Lots reported net sales declined 7.2% to $1.43 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Sales for the full year also declined, from $5.47 billion in 2022 to $4.72 billion in 2023. Big Lots did not share specific data about online sales. However, improving ecommerce profitability and adding a larger assortment of inventory online are key goals for 2023, it said.

BJ’s Wholesale Club (No. 68)

BJ’s said net sales grew 8.7% to $5.25 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Online comparable sales grew much faster, up 28% year over year. They made up 11% of total sales in the quarter. Sales for the full year grew 3.3% to $19.55 billion. Digital sales remain a key area of growth, the retailer said. Customers who shopped online spent 90% more than customers who only shopped in stores in 2023.

Costco Wholesale Corp. (No. 6)

Costco said net sales grew 5.7% to $57.33 billion in its second fiscal quarter of 2024 ended Feb. 18. Ecommerce comparable sales grew 18.4% in the same period.

Read more on Costco ecommerce sales here.

CarParts.com Inc. (No. 146)

CarParts.com reported net sales increased 1% to $156.4 million in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Dec. 30, 2023. For the full year, net sales grew 2% to $675.7 million, a record for the auto parts retailer.

“We believe we are taking share from other online players, and as consumer confidence rebounds, we are well positioned to support the $389 billion automotive aftermarket and deliver long-term growth,” CEO David Meniane said in a statement.

However, he noted a slow start to fiscal 2024 due to macroeconomic challenges.

Cricut, Inc. (No. 473)

Cricut reported that revenue declined in both the full year and the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. The figures declined 14% and 18%, respectively. However, operating income increased by 49% year over year, and the retailer reached its seventh consecutive profitable quarter. Total annual users grew 13% to 8.9 million, and paid subscribers increased 6% to 2.77 million.

Duluth Trading Co. (No. 220)

Duluth reported that net sales increased 2% to $245.6 million in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 28. Full fiscal 2023 net sales declined 1% to $646.7 million. Digital penetration increased in 2023, especially mobile sales, CEO Sam Sato said without revealing more. The retailer also opened an automated fulfillment center last year with plans of eventually fulfilling 60% of online orders through it.

Foot Locker Inc. (No. 51)

Foot Locker sales increased 2% to $2.38 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3.

The Gap Inc. (No. 20)

Gap said net sales grew 1% to $4.3 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Store sales increased 4%, while online sales declined 2%. Online sales made up 40% of total sales in the quarter. Net sales declined 5% to $14.9 billion in fiscal 2023. Store sales decreased 3%, and online sales decreased 7%. Ecommerce made up 37% of annual sales.

Grove Collaborative (No. 282)

Grove Collaborative announced net revenue declined 3.1% to $59.9 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. The decline was due to a decrease in direct-to-consumer orders following a pullback in advertising spending, the retailer said. DTC orders declined 23.7% year over year. Full-year revenue declined 19.4% to $259.3 million.

Home Depot (No. 4)

Home Depot reported that online sales increased about 2% year over year in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 28. Meanwhile, total Q4 sales decreased 2.9% year over year to $34.8 billion.

The Honest Company Inc. (No. 705)

The Honest Company reported revenue grew 10% to $90 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. That was driven by digital sales, which grew 28% year over year and accounted for just over half of total sales. In contrast, retail sales declined 3% as The Honest Company exited some lower-margin distribution channels, it said. Revenue grew 10% for the full year to $344 million, and 2023 digital sales grew 20% to represent 49% of total sales.

The Kroger Co. (No. 8)

Kroger said digital sales grew more than 10% in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Total revenue also grew to $37.1 billion.

Lulu’s Fashion Lounge (No. 203)

Lulu’s said net revenue declined 18% to $75.0 million [right? -AH] in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31. For the full fiscal year, net revenue declined 19% to $355.2 million. Average order value (AOV) increased 14% to $136 for Q4. AOV for the full year was $133, a 2% increase over 2022. The apparel retailer reported a net loss of $19.3 million in 2023, compared to a net income of $3.7 million in 2022. One challenge for the retailer going forward is competing with newer online retailers targeting the same consumers.

“As a brand that has spent 25-plus years supporting women during pivotal moments in their lives, we believe Lulu’s has a competitive edge over fast-fashion retailers over the long-term who are less loyalty driven and have more transactional relationships with customers,” CEO Crystal Landsem said.

Nordstrom Inc. (No. 21)

Nordstrom said net sales grew 2.2% to $4.30 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Online sales made up 38% of Nordstrom total sales.

Stitch Fix, Inc. (No. 42)

Stitch Fix revenue declined 18% in the second quarter ended Jan. 27. However, the retailer is on track to become profitable in the near term, CEO Matt Baer said.

Target Corp. (No. 5)

Target revenue grew 1.7% to $31.92 billion in the fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Online sales declined 0.7%.

ThredUp Inc. (No. 579)

Revenue for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31 grew 14% to $81.4 million, ThredUp announced. Full-year 2023 revenue grew 12% to $322.0 million. The secondhand clothing retailer implemented generative artificial intelligence (AI) in 2023 to help customers find and create outfits.

“Given the breadth of our offering and the limitation of not having model photography in our core product experience, we believe generative AI technology disproportionately benefits managed marketplaces like ThredUp compared to other apparel or peer-to-peer marketplaces,” CEO James Reinhart said.

Victoria’s Secret & Co. (No. 52)

Victoria’s Secret net sales grew 3% to $2.08 billion in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Feb. 3. Digital sales slightly outperformed stores, it said.

Walmart (No. 2)

Walmart said U.S. online sales grew 17% for its fiscal 2024 fourth quarter ended Jan. 31. Its global ecommerce sales grew 23% over the same period, while international ecommerce increased 44%.

So what does it mean?

Apparel retailers have good reason to be optimistic. Abercrombie and American Eagle both reported strong results, with a significant portion of sales through online channels.
Continued economic pressure on consumers could be good news for resale retailers. ThredUp reported double-digit revenue growth for the quarter and the full year.

Ecommerce earnings calendar

Here’s when other ecommerce earnings are scheduled to report this quarter:

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Ecommerce earnings recap: What you missed from Abercrombie, Gap and more