Rural lifestyle retail brand Tractor Supply Company keeps growing its online business, turning in double-digit growth in its eCommerce segment for the 39th consecutive quarter, according to the company’s fiscal 2022 first-quarter earnings report Thursday (April 21).
The company’s stock price has more than tripled from its low-water mark in March 2020, meaning investors are buying into the plan laid out and executed by President and CEO Hal Lawton and his team.
Tractor Supply also boasted a quarterly net sales increase of 8.3% to $3.02 billion and comparable store sales growth of 5.2% for the three months ending March 26 — led by an average ticket growth of 6.7% — after a 38.6% comparable store sales increase in the first quarter of the previous fiscal year.
“The Tractor Supply team delivered strong results with another quarter of record sales and earnings despite having a difficult comparison from last year’s record sales, ongoing supply chain constraints and the Omicron surge,” Lawton said in the company press release.
“While we anticipate that we will continue to operate in a highly inflationary and volatile environment, we believe Tractor Supply is uniquely positioned for growth with a resilient, domestic business model that has stood the test of time,” he said.
Tractor Supply plans to open 75 to 80 new stores in this fiscal year but those plans were delayed in some cases because of lingering effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and construction industry-related challenges.
Related: Tractor Supply Plows Ahead With Plans to Redouble Digital Sales
In February, Tractor Supply announced it wants to push its digital sales above $2 billion by 2026, or more than 15% of total revenue. The company has 2,000 stores in 49 states and intends to increase its digital investments to help convert customers into “power users,” who can browse, order, pay, pick up, deliver, check inventory, make appointments and more in-store, online or using the mobile app.
The company partnered with Germany’s Software AG to integrate systems and deploy advanced mobile solutions that will allow Tractor Supply’s customers to “make purchases faster” by “connecting customer experiences across the store, mobile and click-and-collect channels.”